NATURES  GARDEN 


NELTJE  BLANCHAN 


The  Library  of 

SIBYL  H,  SONDHEIM 
SIDNEY  S.  SONDHEIM 


NATURE'S  GARDEN 


LARGER  BLUE  FLAG. 
<Iris  versicolor.) 


NATURE'S  GARDEN 

AN  AID  TO  KNOWLEDGE  OF 
OUR  WILD  FLOWERS  AND  THEIR 
INSECT  VISITORS 


WITH  COLORED  PLATES  AND  MANY  OTHER 
ILLUSTRATIONS  PHOTOGRAPHED  DIRECTLY  FROM 
NATURE  BY  HENRY  TROTH  AND  A.  R.  DUGMORE 


TEXT  BY 

NELTJE  BLANCHAN 

AUTHOR  OF  "BIRD  NEIGHBORS"  AND  "BIRDS  THAT  HUNT  AND  ARE  HUNTED" 


NEW   YORK 
GROSSET   &   DUNLAP 

PUBLISHERS 


COPYRIGHT,  1900,  BY 
N.  DB  G.  DOUBLEDAY 


PREFACE 

Surely  a  foreword  of  explanation  is  called  for  from  one  who 
has  the  temerity  to  offer  a  surfeited  public  still  another  book  on 
wild  flowers.  Inasmuch  as  science  has  proved  that  almost  every 
blossom  in  the  world  is  everything  it  is  because  of  its  necessity  to 
attract  insect  friends  or  to  repel  its  foes — its  form,  mechanism, 
color,  markings,  odor,  time  of  opening  and  closing,  and  its  season 
of  blooming  being  the  result  of  natural  selection  by  that  special 
insect  upon  which  each  depends  more  or  less  absolutely  for  help 
in  perpetuating  its  species — it  seems  fully  time  that  the  vitally  im- 
portant and  interesting  relationship  existing  between  our  common 
wild  flowers  and  their  winged  benefactors  should  be  presented  in 
a  popular  book. 

Is  it  enough  to  know  merely  the  name  of  the  flower  you  meet 
in  the  meadow  ?  The  blossom  has  an  inner  meaning,  hopes 
and  fears  that  inspire  its  brief  existence,  a  scheme  of  salvation  for 
its  species  in  the  struggle  for  survival  that  it  has  been  slowly  per- 
fecting with  some  insect's  help  through  the  ages.  It  is  not  a  pas- 
sive thing  to  be  admired  by  human  eyes,  nor  does  it  waste  its 
sweetness  on  the  desert  air.  It  is  a  sentient  being,  impelled  to  act 
intelligently  through  the  same  strong  desires  that  animate  us,  and 
endowed  with  certain  powers  differing  only  in  degree,  but  not 
in  kind,  from  those  of  the  animal  creation.  Desire  ever  creates 
form. 

Do  you  doubt  it  ?  Then  study  the  mechanism  of  one  of  our 
common  orchids  or  milkweeds  that  are  adjusted  with  such  mar- 
vellous delicacy  to  the  length  of  a  bee's  tongue  or  of  a  butterfly's 
leg  ;  learn  why  so  many  flowers  have  sticky  calices  or  protective 
hairs;  why  the  skunk  cabbage,  purple  trillium,  and  carrion  flower 
emit  a  fetid  odor  while  other  flowers,  especially  the  white  or  pale 
yellow  night  bloomers,  charm  with  their  delicious  breath ;  see  if 
you  cannot  discover  why  the  immigrant  daisy  already  whitens  our 
fields  with  descendants  as  numerous  as  the  sands  of  the  seashore, 
whereas  you  may  tramp  a  whole  day  without  finding  a  single 
native  ladies'  slipper.  What  of  the  sundew  that  not  only  catches 
insects,  but  secretes  gastric  juice  to  digest  them  ?  What  of  the 
bladderwort,  in  whose  inflated  traps  tiny  crustaceans  are  impris- 
oned, or  the  pitcher-plant,  that  makes  soup  of  its  guests  ?  Why 
are  gnats  and  flies  seen  about  certain  flowers,  bees,  butterflies. 


2052991 


Preface 

moths,  or  humming  birds  about  others,  each  visitor  choosing  the 
restaurant  most  to  his  liking?  With  what  infinite  pains  the 
wants  of  each  guest  are  catered  to  !  How  relentlessly  are  pilferers 
punished  !  The  endless  devices  of  the  more  ambitious  flowers 
to  save  their  species  from  degeneracy  by  close  inbreeding  through 
fertilization  with  their  own  pollen,  alone  prove  the  operation  of 
Mind  through  them.  How  plants  travel,  how  they  send  seeds 
abroad  in  the  world  to  found  new  colonies,  might  be  studied 
with  profit  by  Anglo-Saxon  expansionists.  Do  vice  and  virtue 
exist  side  by  side  in  the  vegetable  world  also  ?  Yes,  and  every 
sinner  is  branded  as  surely  as  was  Cain.  The  dodder,  Indian 
pipe,  broom-rape,  and  beech-drops  wear  the  floral  equivalent  of 
the  striped  suit  and  the  shaved  head.  Although  claiming  most 
respectable  and  exalted  kinsfolk,  they  are  degenerates  not  far 
above  the  fungi.  In  short,  this  is  a  universe  that  we  live  in  ;  and 
all  that  share  the  One  Life  are  one  in  essence,  for  natural  law  is 
spiritual  law.  "Through  Nature  to  God,"  flowers  show  a  way 
to  the  scientist,  lacking  faith. 

Although  it  has  been  stated  by  evolutionists  for  many  years 
that  in  order  to  know  the  flowers,  their  insect  relationships  must 
first  be  understood,  it  is  believed  that  "Nature's  Garden"  is  the 
first  American  work  to  explain  them  in  any  considerable  number 
of  species.  Dr.  Asa  Gray,  William  Hamilton  Gibson,  Clarence 
Moores  Weed,  and  Miss  Maud  Going  in  their  delightful  books 
or  lectures  have  shown  the  interdependence  of  a  score  or  more 
of  different  blossoms  and  their  insect  visitors.  Hidden  away 
in  the  proceedings  of  scientific  societies'  technical  papers  are  the 
invaluable  observations  of  such  men  as  Dr.  William  Trelease 
of  Wisconsin  and  Professor  Charles  Robertson  of  Illinois.  To 
the  latter,  especially,  I  am  glad  to  acknowledge  my  indebted- 
ness. Sprengel,  Darwin,  Mailer,  Delpino,  and  Lubbock,  among 
others,  have  given  the  world  classical  volumes  on  European 
flora  only,  but  showing  a  vast  array  of  facts  which  the  theory  of 
adaptation  to  insects  alone  correlates  and  explains.  That  the 
results  of  their  illumining  researches  should  be  so  slow  in  enlight- 
ening the  popular  mind  can  be  due  only  to  the  technical,  scien- 
tific language  used  in  setting  them  forth,  language  as  foreign 
to  the  average  reader  as  Chinese,  and  not  to  be  deciphered  by  the 
average  student,  either,  without  the  help  of  a  glossary.  These 
writings,  as  well  as  the  vast  array  of  popular  books — too  many  for 
individual  mention — have  been  freely  consulted  after  studies  made 
afield. 

To  Sprengel  belongs  the  glory  of  first  exalting  flowers  above 
the  level  of  mere  botanical  specimens.  After  studying  the  wild 
geranium  he  became  convinced,  as  he  wrote  in  1787,  that  "the  wise 
Author  of  Nature  has  not  made  even  a  single  hair  without  a  defi- 
nite design."  A  hundred  years  before,  one,  Nehemias  Grew,  had 
said  that  it  was  necessary  for  pollen  to  reach  the  stigma  of  a  flower 


Preface 

fn  order  that  it  might  set  fertile  seed,  and  Linnaeus  had  to  come 
to  his  rescue  with  conclusive  evidence  to  convince  a  doubting 
world  that  he  was  right.  Sprengel  made  the  next  step  forward, 
but  his  writings  lay  neglected  over  seventy  years  because  he  ad- 
vanced the  then  incredible  and  only  partially  true  statement  that  a 
flower  is  fertilized  by  insects  which  carry  its  pollen  from  its  an- 
thers to  its  stigma.  In  spite  of  his  discoveries  that  the  hairs  within 
the  wild  geranium  protect  its  nectar  from  rain  for  the  insect  bene- 
factor's benefit ;  that  most  flowers  which  secrete  nectar  have  what 
he  termed  "  honey  guides  " — spots  of  bright  color,  heavy  veining, 
or  some  such  pathfinder  for  the  visitor  on  the  petals  ;  that  some- 
times the  male  flowers,  the  staminate  ones,  are  separated  from  the 
seed-bearing  or  pistillate  ones  on  distinct  plants,  he  left  it  to  Darwin 
to  show  that  cross-fertilization  by  insects,  the  transfer  of  pollen 
from  one  blossom  to  another — not  from  anthers  to  stigma  of  the 
same  flower — is  the  great  end  to  which  so  much  marvellous  floral 
mechanism  is  adapted.  The  wind  is  a  wasteful,  uncertain  pollen 
distributor.  Insects  transfer  it  more  economically,  especially  the 
more  highly  organized  and  industrious  ones.  In  a  few  instances 
humming  birds,  as  well,  unwittingly  do  the  flower's  bidding  while 
they  feast  now  here,  now  there.  In  spite  of  Sprengel's  most  pa- 
tient and  scientific  research,  that  shed  great  light  on  the  theory  of 
natural  selection  a  half  century  before  Darwin  advanced  it,  he 
never  knew  that  flowers  are  nearly  always  sterile  to  pollen  of  an- 
other species  when  carried  to  them  on  the  bodies  of  insect  visitors, 
or  that  cross-pollenized  blossoms  defeat  the  self-pollinated  ones  in 
the  struggle  for  survival.  These  facts  Darwin  proved  in  endless 
experiments. 

Because  bees  depend  absolutely  upon  flowers,  not  only  for 
their  own  food  but  for  that  of  future  generations  for  whom  they 
labor ;  because  they  are  the  most  diligent  of  all  visitors,  and  are 
rarely  diverted  from  one  species  of  flower  to  another  while  on 
their  rounds  collecting,  as  they  must,  both  nectar  and  pollen,  it  fol- 
lows they  are  the  most  important  fertilizing  agents.  It  is  estimated 
that,  should  they  perish,  more  than  half  the  flowers  in  the  world 
would  be  exterminated  with  them !  Australian  farmers  imported 
clover  from  Europe,  and  although  they  had  luxuriant  fields  of  it, 
no  seed  was  set  for  next  year's  planting,  because  they  had  failed  to 
import  the  bumblebee.  After  his  arrival,  their  loss  was  speedily 
made  good. 

Ages  before  men  cultivated  gardens,  they  had  tiny  helpers 
they  knew  not  of.  Gardeners  win  all  the  glory  of  producing  a 
Lawson  pink  or  a  new  chrysanthemum;  but  only  fora  few  seasons 
do  they  select,  hybridize,  according  to  their  own  rules  of  taste. 
They  take  up  the  work  where  insects  left  it  off  after  countless  cen- 
turies of  toil.  Thus  it  is  to  the  night-flying  moth,  long  of  tongue, 
keen  of  scent,  that  we  are  indebted  for  the  deep,  white,  fragrant 
Easter  lily,  for  example,  and  not  to  the  florist ;  albeit  the  moth  is  in 

vii 


Preface 

his  turn  indebted  to  the  lily  for  the  length  of  his  tongue  and  his 
keen  nerves:  neither  could  have  advanced  without  the  other. 
What  long  vistas  through  the  ages  of  creation  does  not  this  inter- 
dependence of  flowers  and  insects  open  ! 

Over  five  hundred  flowers  in  this  book  have  been  classified 
according  to  color,  because  it  is  believed  that  the  novice,  with 
no  knowledge  of  botany  whatever,  can  most  readily  identify  the 
specimen  found  afield  by  this  method,  which  has  the  added  ad- 
vantage of  being  the  simple  one  adopted  by  the  higher  insects 
ages  before  books  were  written.  Technicalities  have  been  avoided 
in  the  text  wherever  possible,  not  to  discourage  the  beginner  from 
entering  upon  one  of  the  most  enjoyable  and  elevating  branches  of 
Nature  study.  The  scientific  names  and  classification  follow  that 
method  adopted  by  the  International  Botanical  Congress  which 
has  now  superseded  all  others  ;  nevertheless  the  titles  employed 
by  Gray,  with  which  older  botanists  in  this  country  are  familiar, 
are  also  indicated  where  they  differ  from  the  new  nomenclature. 

Mr.  Dugmore's  very  beautiful  photographs  in  color  from  the 
living  flowers,  and  the  no  less  exquisite  portraits  from  life  in 
black  and  white  by  Mr.  Troth,  cannot  but  prove  the  most  attrac- 
tive, as  they  are  the  most  useful,  feature  of  this  book. 

NELTJE    BLANCHAN 

NEW  YORK,  March,  1900 


viii 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

PREFACE  v 

LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS xi 

BLUE  TO  PURPLE  FLOWERS i 

MAGENTA  TO  PINK  FLOWERS 79 

WHITE  AND  GREENISH  FLOWERS        .        .        .        .        .  151 

YELLOW  AND  ORANGE  FLOWERS 273 

RED  AND  INDEFINITES 365 

FRAGRANT  FLOWERS  OR  LEAVES 395 

UNPLEASANTLY  SCENTED    .......  395 

PLANTS  AND  SHRUBS  CONSPICUOUS  IN  FRUIT        .        .        .  396 

PLANT  FAMILIES  REPRESENTED 396 

INDEX  OF  SCIENTIFIC  NAMES 401 

INDEX  OF  ENGLISH  NAMES 408 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

LARGER  -BLUE  FLAG       •  .     •/.     -  .     •  .        .    Frontispiece 


FACING  PAGE 


PICKEREL-WEED         .......  4 

WILD  LUPINE 5 

LIVERWORT  AND  PURPLE  VIOLET      .         .         .         .  16 

BLUETS  AND  BIRD'S-FOOT  VIOLET       ....  28 

VIPER'S  BUGLOSS 29 

FRINGED  AND  CLOSED  GENTIANS        ....  32 

HYSSOP  SKULLCAP,  AND  MONKEY-FLOWER        .        .  56 

CARD  TEASEL 62 

HAREBELL 63 

CHICKORY  AND  GREAT  LOBELIA        ....  68 

NEW  ENGLAND  AND  LATE  PURPLE  ASTERS        .        .  74 

BUR  AND  PASTURE  THISTLES      .....  78 

MOCCASIN  FLOWER    .......  82 

ARETHUSA  AND  ROSE  POGONIA 83 

SOAPWORT  AND  SNAKEHEAD 92 

GOAT'S-RUE 102 

FRINGED  AND  PURPLE  MILK  WORTS    .     *    .         .         .  103 

SWAMP  ROSE  MALLOW 114 

MEADOW  BEAUTY 118 

PRINCE'S  PINE 119 

MOUNTAIN  LAUREL  AND  TRAILING  ARBUTUS    .         .  128 

PURPLE  MILKWEED  AND  JOE-PYE  WEED    .         .         .  138 

ARROW-HEAD  AND  BLACK  COHOSH    .        .        .        .  154 

XI 


List  of  Illustrations 

FACING   PAGE 

PAINTED  WAKE-ROBIN      .        .        .        .        .         .  162 

Moss  PINK       .•;•'« 163 

WHITE  WATER  LILY 174 

BLOODROOT  AND  MAY  APPLE    .  .        .        .        .        .  186 

MEADOW-SWEET ,,  198 

LANCE-LEAVED  AND  SWEET  WHITE  VIOLETS     .        .  199 

SWEET  PEPPERBUSH  .......  230 

STAR  FLOWER  AND  EARLY  SAXIFRAGE        .         .        .  231 

SILKY  CORNEL  AND  BUTTON  BUSH    ....  252 

WHITE  WOOD  ASTER 262 

FIELD  CAMOMILE      . 263 

WILD  YELLOW  LILY 276 

TURK'S-CAP  LILY 278 

YELLOW  STAR-GRASS  AND  BLACKBERRY  LILY     .        .  279 

DOWNY  YELLOW  VIOLET  AND  MARSH  MARIGOLD      .  292 

JEWEL-WEED  AND  BUTTERFLY-WEED  .         .         .         .  312 

GREAT  MULLEIN  AND  MOTH  MULLEIN      .        .         .  330 

GOLDEN  ASTER  AND  RATTLESNAKE-WEED  .         .         .  346 

SWEET-SCENTED  AND  BLUE-STEMMED  GOLDEN-RODS    .  347 

GIANT  SUNFLOWER  AND  BLACK-EYED  SUSAN     .        .  354 

CANADA  GOLDEN-ROD  AND  TANSY       ....  362 

RED  WOOD  LILY 370 

WILD  COLUMBINE 378 

CARDINAL  FLOWER  AND  PAINTED  CUP       .        .        .  392 


xii 


"  Let  us  content  ourselves  no  longer  with  being  mere  '  botanists ' — his- 
torians of  structural  facts.  The  flowers  are  not  mere  comely  or  curious 
vegetable  creations,  with  colors,  odors ,  petals,  stamens  and  innumerable 
technical  attributes.  The  wonted  insight  alike  of  scientist,  philosopher, 
theologian,  and  dreamer  is  now  repudiated  in  the  new  revelation.  Beauty 
is  not <  its  own  excuse  for  being,'  nor  was  fragrance  ever  l  wasted  on  the 
desert  air.1  The  seer  has  at  last  heard  and  interpreted  the  voice  in  the 
wilderness.  The  flower  is  no  longer  a  simple  passive  victim  in  the  busy 
bee 's  sweet  pillage,  but  rather  a  conscious  being,  with  hopes,  aspirations 
and  companionships.  The  insect  is  its  counterpart.  Its  fragrance  is  but 
a  perfumed  whisper  of  welcome,  its  color  is  as  the  wooing  blush  and  rosy 
lip,  its  portals  are  decked  for  his  coming,  and  its  sweet  hospitalities  humored 
to  his  tarrying  ;  and  as  it  speeds  its  parting  affinity,  rests  content  that  its 
life's  consummation  has  been  fulfilled  " — WILLIAM  HAMILTON  GIBSON. 


"  /  often  think,  when  working  over  my  plants,  of  what  Linnaeus  once 
said  of  the  unfolding  of  a  blossom  :  '  I  saw  God  in  His  glory  passing  near 
me,  and  bowed  my  head  in  worship*  The  scientific  aspect  of  the  same 
thought  has  been  put  into  words  by  Tennyson : — 

'  Flower  in  the  crannied  wall 
I  pluck  you  out  of  the  crannies, 
I  hold  you  here,  root  and  all,  in  my  hand 
Little  flower, — but  if  I  could  understand 
Whatyoii  are,  root  and  all,  and  all  in  all, 
I  should  know  what  God  and  man  is.' 

No  deeper  thought  was  ever  uttered  by  poet.  For  in  this  world  of  plants, 
which,  with  its  magician,  chlorophyll,  conjuring  with  sunbeams,  is  cease- 
lessly at  work  bringing  life  out  of  death, — in  this  quiet  vegetable  world  we 
may  find  the  elementary  principles  of  all  life  in  almost  visible  operation" 
—JOHN  FISKE  in  "  Through  Nature  to  God." 


FROM   BLUE  TO  PURPLE  FLOWERS 


"  If  blue  is  the  favourite  colour  of  bees,  and  if  bees  have  so  much  to 
do  with  the  origin  of  flowers,  how  is  it  that  there  are  so  few  blue  ones  ? 
I  believe  the  explanation  to  be  that  all  blue  flowers  have  descended  from 
ancestors  in  which  the  flowers  were  green;  or,  to  speak  more  precisely ,  in 
which  the  leaves  surrounding  the  stamens  and  pistil  were  green ;  and 
that  they  have  passed  through  stages  of  white  or  yellow,  and  generally  red, 
before  becoming  blue." — SlR  JOHN  LuBBOCK  in  "Ants,  Bees,  and  Wasps." 


FROM   BLUE  TO  PURPLE  FLOWERS 

Virginia,  or  Common  Day-flower 

(Commelina  Virginica)  Spiderwort  family 

Flowers — Blue,  i  in.  broad  or  less,  irregular,  grouped  at  end  of 
stem,  and  upheld  by  long  leaf-like  bracts.  Calyx  of  3  unequal 
sepals  ;  3  petals,  i  inconspicuous,  2  showy,  rounded.  Perfect 
stamens  3  ;  the  anther  of  i  incurved  stamen  largest  ;  3  insig- 
nificant and  sterile  stamens  ;  i  pistil.  Stem  :  Fleshy,  smooth, 
branched,  mucilaginous.  Leaves  :  Lance-shaped,  3  to  5  in. 
long,  sheathing  the  stem  at  base  ;  upper  leaves  in  a  spathe- 
like  bract  folding  like  a  hood  about  flowers.  Fruit :  A  3- 
celled  capsule,  i  seed  in  each  cell. 

Preferred  Habitat — Moist,  shady  ground. 

Flowering  Season — june — September. 

Distribution — "Southern  New  York  to  Illinois  and  Michigan, 
Nebraska,  Texas,  and  through  tropical  America  to  Para- 
guay."— Britton  and  Browne. 

Delightful  Linnaeus,  who  dearly  loved  his  little  joke,  himself 
confesses  to  have  named  the  day-flowers  after  three  brothers 
Commelyn,  Dutch  botanists,  because  two  of  them — commemo- 
rated in  the  two  showy  blue  petals  of  the  blossom — published 
their  works  ;  the  third,  lacking  application  and  ambition, 
amounted  to  nothing,  like  the  inconspicuous  whitish  third  petal  ! 
Happily  Kaspar  Commelyn  died  in  1731,  before  the  joke  was  per- 
petrated in  "  Species  Plantarum." 

In  the  morning  we  find  the  day-flower  open  and  alert-looking, 
owing  to  the  sharp,  erect  bracts  that  give  it  support  ;  after  noon, 
or  as  soon  as  it  has  been  fertilized  by  the  female  bees,  that  are  its 
chief  benefactors  while  collecting  its  abundant  pollen,  the  lovely 
petals  roll  up,  never  to  open  again,  and  quickly  wilt  into  a  wet, 
shapeless  mass,  which,  if  we  touch  it,  leaves  a  sticky  blue  fluid 
on  our  finger-tips. 

The  Slender  Day-flower  (C.  erecta),  the  next  of  kin,  a  more 
fragile-looking,  smaller-flowered,  and  narrower-leaved  species, 
blooms  from  August  to  October,  from  Pennsylvania  southward 
to  tropical  America  and  westward  to  Texas. 

3 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

Spiderwort;  Widow's  or  Job's  Tears 

(Tradescantia  Virginiand)  Spiderwort  family 

Floivers — Purplish  blue,  rarely  white,  showy,  ephemeral,  i  to  2 
in.  broad  ;  usually  several  flowers,  but  more  drooping  buds, 
clustered  and  seated  between  long  blade-like  bracts  at  end 
of  stem.  Calyx  of  3  sepals,  much  longer  than  capsule. 
Corolla  of  3  regular  petals  ;  6  fertile  stamens,  bearded  ;  anthers 
orange  ;  i  pistil.  Stem :  8  in.  to  3  ft.  tall,  fleshy,  erect, 
mucilaginous,  leafy.  Leaves :  Opposite,  long,  blade-like, 
keeled,  clasping,  or  sheathing  stem  at  base.  Fruit :  3-celled 
capsule. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rich,  moist  woods,  thickets,  gardens. 

Flowering  Season — May — August. 

Distribution — New  York  and  Virginia  westward  to  South  Dakota 
and  Arkansas. 

As  so  very  many  of  our  blue  flowers  are  merely  naturalized 
immigrants  from  Europe,  it  is  well  to  know  we  have  sent  to 
England  at  least  one  native  that  was  considered  fit  to  adorn  the 
grounds  of  Hampton  Court.  John  Tradescant,  gardener  to 
Charles  I.,  for  whom  the  plant  and  its  kin  were  named,  had 
seeds  sent  him  by  a  relative  in  the  Virginia  colony  ;  and  before 
long  the  deep  azure  blossoms  with  their  golden  anthers  were  seen 
in  gardens  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic — another  one  of  the  many 
instances  where  the  possibilities  of  our  wild  flowers  under  culti- 
vation had  to  be  first  pointed  out  to  us  by  Europeans. 

Like  its  relative  the  day-flower,  the  spiderwort  opens  for 
part  of  a  day  only.  In  the  morning  it  is  wide  awake  and  pert  ; 
early  in  the  afternoon  its  petals  have  begun  to  retreat  within  the 
calyx,  until  presently  they  become  "  dissolved  in  tears,"  like  Job 
or  the  traditional  widow.  What  was  flower  only  a  few  hours 
ago  is  now  a  fluid  jelly  that  trickles  at  the  touch.  To-morrow 
fresh  buds  will  open,  and  a  continuous  succession  of  bloom  may 
be  relied  upon  for  a  long  season.  Since  its  stigma  is  widely  sep- 
arated from  the  anthers  and  surpasses  them,  it  is  probable  the 
flower  cannot  fertilize  itself,  but  is  wholly  dependent  on  the 
female  bees  and  other  insects  that  come  to  it  for  pollen.  Note 
the  hairs  on  the  stamens  provided  as  footholds  for  the  bees. 

The  plant  is  a  cousin  of  the  "  Wandering  Jew  "  (T.  repens), 
so  commonly  grown  either  in  water  or  earth  in  American  sitting- 
rooms.  In  a  shady  lane  within  New  York  city  limits,  where  a 
few  stems  were  thrown  out  one  spring  about  five  years  ago,  the 
entire  bank  is  now  covered  with  the  vine,  that  has  rooted  by  its 
hairy  joints,  and,  in  spite  of  frosts  and  blizzards,  continues  to 
bear  its  true-blue  flowers  throughout  the  summer. 


PICKEREL-WEED 
(Pontederia  cordata) 


WILD    LUPINE 
(Lupinus  perennis) 


From  Blue  to  Purple 


Pickerel  Weed 

(Pontederta  cordata)  Pickerel-weed  family 

Flowers — Bright  purplish  blue,  including  filaments,  anthers,  and 
style  ;  crowded  in  a  dense  spike  ;  quickly  fading  ;  unpleas- 
antly odorous.  Perianth  tubular,  2-lipped,  parted  into  6  irreg- 
ular lobes,  free  from  ovary  ;  middle  lobe  of  upper  lip  with  2 
yellow  spots  at  base  within.  Stamens  6,  placed  at  unequal 
distances  on  tube,  3  opposite  each  lip.  Pistil  i,  the  stigma 
minutely  toothed.  Stem :  Erect,  stout,  fleshy,  i  to  4  ft.  tall, 
not  often  over  2  ft.  above  water  line.  Leaves :  Several  bract- 
like,  sheathing  stem  at  base  ;  i  leaf  only,  midway  on  flower- 
stalk,  thick,  polished,  triangular,  or  arrow-shaped,  4  to  8  in. 
long,  2  to  6  in.  across  base. 

Preferred  Habitat — Shallow  water  of  ponds  and  streams. 

Flowering  Season — J une — October. 

Distribution — Eastern  half  of  United  States  and  Canada. 

Grace  of  habit  and  the  bright  beauty  of  its  long  blue  spikes 
of  ragged  flowers  above  rich,  glossy  leaves  give  a  charm  to  this 
vigorous  wader.  Backwoodsmen  will  tell  you  that  pickerels  lay 
their  eggs  among  the  leaves;  but  so  they  do  among  the  sedges, 
arums,  wild  rice,  and  various  aquatic  plants,  like  many  another 
fish.  Bees  and  flies,  that  congregate  about  the  blossoms  to  feed, 
may  sometimes  fly  too  low,  and  so  give  a  plausible  reason  for  the 
pickerel's  choice  of  haunt.  Each  blossom  lasts  but  a  single  day; 
the  upper  portion,  withering,  leaves  the  base  of  the  perianth  to 
harden  about  the  ovary  and  protect  the  solitary  seed.  But  as 
the  gradually  lengthened  spike  keeps  up  an  uninterrupted  suc- 
cession of  bloom  for  months,  more  than  ample  provision  is 
made  for  the  perpetuation  of  the  race — a  necessity  to  any  plant 
that  refuses  to  thrive  unless  it  stands  in  water.  Ponds  and 
streams  have  an  unpleasant  habit  of  drying  up  in  summer,  and 
often  the  pickerel  weed  looks  as  brown  as  a  bullrush  where  it  is 
stranded  in  the  baked  mud  in  August.  When  seed  falls  on  such 
ground,  if  indeed  it  germinates  at  all,  the  young  plant  naturally 
withers  away. 

In  the  Bulletin  of  the  Torrey  Botanical  Club,  Mr.  W.  H.  Leg- 
gett,  who  made  a  careful  study  of  the  flower,  tells  that  three 
forms  occur,  not  on  the  same,  but  on  different  plants,  being  even 
more  distinctly  trimorphic  than  the  purple  Loosestrife.  As  these 
flowers  set  no  seed  without  insects'  aid,  the  provisions  made  to 
secure  the  greatest  benefit  from  their  visits  are  marvellous.  Of  the 
three  kinds  of  blossoms,  one  raises  its  stigma  on  a  long  style 
reaching  to  the  top  of  the  flower;  a  second  form  lifts  its  stigma 
only  half-way  up,  and  the  third  keeps  its  stigma  in  the  bottom  of 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

the  tube.  Now,  there  are  two  sets  of  stamens,  three  in  each  set 
bearing  pollen  grains  of  different  size  and  value.  Whenever  the 
stigma  is  high,  the  two  sets  of  stamens  keep  out  of  its  way  by 
occupying  the  lowest  and  middle  positions,  or  just  where  the 
stigmas  occur  in  the  two  other  forms;  or,  let  us  say,  whenever  the 
stigma  is  in  one  of  the  three  positions,  the  different  sets  of  sta- 
mens occupy  the  other  two.  In  a  long  series  of  experiments  on 
flowers  occurring  in  two  and  three  forms — dimorphic  and  tri- 
morphic — Darwin  proved  that  perfect  fertility  can  be  obtained 
only  when  the  stigma  in  each  form  is  pollenized  with  grains  car- 
ried from  the  stamens  of  a  corresponding  height.  For  example, 
a  bee  on  entering  the  flower  must  get  his  abdomen  dusted  with 
pollen  from  the  long  stamens,  his  chest  covered  from  the  middle- 
length  stamens,  and  his  tongue  and  chin  from  the  set  in  the  bot- 
tom of  the  tube  nearest  the  nectary.  When  he  flies  off  to  visit 
another  flower,  these  parts  of  his  body  coming  in  contact  with 
the  stigmas  that  occupy  precisely  the  position  where  the  stamens 
were  in  other  individuals,  he  necessarily  brushes  off  each  lot  of 
pollen  just  where  it  will  do  the  most  good.  Pollen  brought  from 
high  stamens,  for  example,  to  a  low  stigma,  even  should  it  reach 
it,  which  is  scarcely  likely,  takes  little  or  no  effect.  Thus  cross- 
fertilization  is  absolutely  essential,  and  in  three-formed  flowers 
there  are  two  chances  to  one  of  securing  it. 


Wild  Hyacinth,  Scilla  or  Squill.    Quamash 

(Qiiamasia  hyacinthina)  Lily  family 
(Scilla  Fraseri  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Several  or  many,  pale  violet  blue,  or  rarely  white,  in  a 
long,  loose  raceme;  perianth  of  6  equal,  narrowly  oblong, 
widely  spreading  divisions,  the  thread-like  filaments  inserted 
at  their  bases ;  style  thread-like,  with  3-lobed  stigma.  Scape : 
i  to  2  ft.  high,  from  egg-shaped,  nearly  black  bulb,  i  to 
i^>  in.  long.  Leaves:  Grass-like,  shorter  than  flowering 
scape,  from  the  base.  Fruit:  A  ^-angled,  oval  capsule  con- 
taining shining  black  seeds. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Meadows,  prairies,  and  along  banks  of 
streams. 

Flowering  Season — April — May. 

Distribution — Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  westward  to  Minnesota, 
south  to  Alabama  and  Texas. 

Coming  with  the  crocuses,  before  the  snow  is  off  the  ground, 
and  remaining  long  after  their  regal  gold  and  purple  chalices  have 
withered,  the  Siberian  scillas  sold  by  seedsmen  here  deserve  a 
place  in  every  garden,  for  their  porcelain-blue  color  is  rare  as  it  is 

6 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

charming;  the  early  date  when  they  bloom  makes  them  espe- 
cially welcome;  and,  once  planted  and  left  undisturbed,  the  bulbs 
increase  rapidly,  without  injury  from  overcrowding.  Evidently 
they  need  little  encouragement  to  run  wild.  Nevertheless  they 
are  not  wild  scillas,  however  commonly  they  may  be  miscalled 
so.  Certainly  ladies'  tresses,  known  as  wild  hyacinth  in  parts  of 
New  England,  has  even  less  right  to  the  name. 

Our  true  native  wild  hyacinth,  or  scilla,  is  quite  a  different 
flower,  not  so  pure  a  blue  as  the  Siberian  scilla,  and  paler;  yet 
in  the  middle  West,  where  it  abounds,  there  are  few  lovelier 
sights  in  spring  than  a  colony  of  these  blossoms  directed  obliquely 
upward  from  slender,  swaying  scapes  among  the  lush  grass. 
Their  upward  slant  brings  the  stigma  in  immediate  contact  with 
an  incoming  visitor's  pollen-laden  body.  As  the  stamens  diverge 
with  the  spreading  of  the  divisions  of  the  perianth,  to  which  they 
are  attached,  the  stigma  receives  pollen  brought  from  another 
flower,  before  the  visitor  dusts  himself  anew  in  searching  for  re- 
freshment, thus  effecting  cross-pollination.  Ants,  bees,  wasps, 
flies,  butterflies,  and  beetles  may  be  seen  about  the  wild  hyacinth, 
which  is  obviously  best  adapted  to  the  bees.  The  smallest  in- 
sects that  visit  it  may  possibly  defeat  Nature's  plan  and  obtain 
nectar  without  fertilizing  the  flower,  owing  to  the  wide  passage 
between  stamens  and  stigma.  In  about  an  hour,  one  May  morn- 
ing, Professor  Charles  Robertson  captured  over  six  hundred  in- 
sects, representing  thirty-eight  distinct  species,  on  a  patch  of  wild 
hyacinths  in  Illinois. 

The  bulb  of  a  Mediterranean  Scilla  (5.  maritimd)  furnishes  the 
sourish-sweet  syrup  of  squills  used  in  medicine  for  bronchial 
troubles. 

The  Grape  Hyacinth  (Muscari  botryoides),  also  known  as 
Baby's  Breath,  because  of  its  delicate  faint  fragrance,  escapes  from 
gardens  at  slight  encouragement  to  grow  wild  in  the  roadsides 
and  meadows  from  Massachusetts  to  Virginia  and  westward  to 
Ohio.  Its  tiny,  deep-blue,  globular  flowers,  stiffly  set  around  a 
fleshy  scape  that  rises  between  erect,  blade-like,  channeled  leaves, 
appear  spring  after  spring  wherever  the  small  bulbs  have  been 
planted.  On  the  east  end  of  Long  Island  there  are  certain  mead- 
ows literally  blued  with  the  little  runaways. 


Purple   Trillium,    Ill-scented   Wake-Robin,   or 
Birth-root 

(Trillium  erectum)  Lily-of-the- Valley  family 

Flowers — Solitary,  dark,  dull  purple,  or  purplish  red  ;  rarely  green- 
ish, white,  or  pinkish  ;  on  erect  or  slightly  inclined  footstalk. 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

Calyx  of  3  spreading  sepals,  i  to  \%  in.  long,  or  about  length 
of  3  pointed,  oval  petals  ;  stamens  6  ;  anthers  longer  than 
filaments  ;  pistil  spreading  into  3  short,  recurved  stigmas. 
Stem :  Stout,  8  to  16  in.  high,  from  tuber-like  rootstock. 
Leaves  .•  In  a  whorl  of  }  ;  broadly  ovate,  abruptly  pointed, 
netted-veined.  Fruit :  A  6-angled,  ovate,  reddish  berry. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rich,  moist  woods. 

Flowering  Season — April — June. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  westward  to  Manitoba,  southward  to 
North  Carolina  and  Missouri. 

Some  weeks  after  the  jubilant,  alert  robins  have  returned 
from  the  South,  the  purple  trillium  unfurls  its  unattractive,  car- 
rion-scented flower.  In  the  variable  colors  found  in  different 
regions,  one  can  almost  trace  its  evolution  from  green,  white,  and 
red  to  purple,  which,  we  are  told,  is  the  course  all  flowers  must 
follow  to  attain  to  blue.  The  white  and  pink  forms,  however 
attractive  to  the  eye,  are  never  more  agreeable  to  the  nose  than 
the  reddish-purple  ones.  Bees  and  butterflies,  with  delicate  ap- 
preciation of  color  and  fragrance,  let  the  blossom  alone,  since  it 
secretes  no  nectar;  and  one  would  naturally  infer  either  that  it 
can  fertilize  itself  without  insect  aid — a  theory  which  closer  study 
of  its  organs  goes  far  to  disprove — or  that  the  carrion-scent,  so 
repellent  to  us,  is  in  itself  an  attraction  to  certain  insects  need- 
ful for  cross-pollination.  Which  are  they  ?  Beetles  have  been 
observed  crawling  over  the  flower,  but  without  effecting  any 
methodical  result.  One  inclines  to  accept  Mr.  Clarence  M. 
Weed's  theory  of  special  adaptation  to  the  common  green  flesh- 
flies  (Lucilia  carnicina),  which  would  naturally  be  attracted  to  a 
flower  resembling  in  color  and  odor  a  raw  beefsteak  of  uncertain 
age.  These  little  creatures,  seen  in  every  butcher  shop  through- 
put the  summer,  the  flower  furnishes  with  a  free  lunch  of  pollen 
in  consideration  of  the  transportation  of  a  few  grains  to  another 
blossom.  Absence  of  the  usual  floral  attractions  gives  the  carrion 
flies  a  practical  monopoly  of  the  pollen  food,  which  no  doubt 
tastes  as  it  smells. 

The  Sessile-flowered  Wake-Robin  (T.  sessile),  whose  dark 
purple,  purplish-red,  or  greenish  blossom,  narrower  of  sepal  and 
petals  than  the  preceding,  is  seated  in  a  whorl  of  three  egg- 
shaped,  sometimes  blotched,  leaves,  possesses  a  rather  pleasant 
odor  ;  nevertheless  it  seems  to  have  no  great  attraction  for 
insects.  The  stigmas,  which  are  very  large,  almost  touch  the 
anthers  surrounding  them  ;  therefore  the  beetles  which  one  fre- 
quently sees  crawling  over  them  to  feed  on  the  pollen  so  jar 
them,  no  doubt,  as  to  self-fertilize  the  flower  ;  but  it  is  scarcely 
probable  these  slow  crawlers  often  transfer  the  grains  from  one 
blossom  to  another.  A  degraded  flower  like  this  has  little  need  of 

8 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

color  and  perfume,  one  would  suppose  ;  yet  it  may  be  even  now 
slowly  perfecting  its  way  toward  an  ideal  of  which  we  see  a  part 
only  complete.  In  deep,  rich,  moist  woods  and  thickets  the  ses- 
sile trillium  blooms  in  April  or  May,  from  Pennsylvania,  Ohio, 
and  Minnesota  southward  nearly  to  the  Gulf. 


Larger  Blue  Flag;    Blue  Iris;    Fleur-de-lis; 

Flower-de-luce 
(Iris  -versicolor)  Iris  family 

Flowers — Several,  2  to  3  in.  long,  violet-blue  variegated  with  yellow, 
green,  or  white,  and  purple  veined.  Six  divisions  of  the  peri- 
anth :  3  outer  ones  spreading,  recurved  ;  i  of  them  bearded, 
much  longer  and  wider  than  the  3  erect  inner  divisions  ;  all 
united  into  a  short  tube.  Three  stamens  under  3  overhang- 
ing petal-like  divisions  of  the  style,  notched  at  end  ;  under 
each  notch  is  a  thin  plate,  smooth  on  one  side,  rough  and 
moist  (stigma)  on  side  turned  away  from  anther.  Stem:  2  to 
^  ft.  high,  stout,  straight,  almost  circular,  sometimes  branch- 
ing above.  Leaves:  Erect,  sword-shaped,  shorter  than  stem, 
somewhat  hoary,  from  %  to  i  in.  wide,  folded,  and  in  a 
compact  flat  cluster  at  base  ;  bracts  usually  longer  than  stem 
of  flower.  Fruit:  Oblong  capsule,  not  prominently  3-lobed, 
and  with  2  rows  of  round,  flat  seeds  closely  packed  in  each 
cell.  Rootstock :  Creeping,  horizontal,  fleshy. 

Preferred  Habitat — Marshes,  wet  meadows. 

Flowering  Season — May — July. 

Distribution — Newfoundland  and  Manitoba  to  Arkansas  and 
Florida. 

''The  fleur-de-lys,  which  is  the  flower  of  chivalry,"  says 
Ruskin,  "has  a  sword  for  its  leaf  and  a  lily  for  its  heart."  When 
that  young  and  pious  Crusader,  Louis  VII.,  adopted  it  for  the 
emblem  of  his  house,  spelling  was  scarcely  an  exact  science,  and 
the  fleur -de- Louis  soon  became  corrupted  into  its  present  form. 
Doubtless  the  royal  flower  was  the  white  iris,  and  as  li  is  the 
Celtic  for  white,  there  is  room  for  another  theory  as  to  the  origin 
of  the  name.  It  is  our  far  more  regal  looking,  but  truly  demo- 
cratic blossom,  jostling  its  fellows  in  the  marshes,  that  is  indeed 
"born  in  the  purple." 

When  Napoleon  wished  to  pose  as  the  true  successor  of  those 
ancient  French  kings  whose  territory  included  the  half  of 
Europe — ignoring  every  Louis  who  ever  sat  on  the  throne,  for 
their  very  name  and  emblem  had  become  odious  to  the  people — 
he  discarded  the  fleur-de-lis,  to  replace  it  with  golden  bees, 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

the  symbol  in  armory  for  industry  and  perseverance.  It  is  said 
some  relics  of  gold  and  fine  stones,  somewhat  resembling  an 
insect  in  shape,  had  been  found  in  the  tomb  of  Clovis's  father, 
and  on  the  supposition  that  these  had  been  bees,  Napoleon  appro- 
priated them  for  the  imperial  badge.  Henceforth  "Napoleonic 
bees"  appeared  on  his  coronation  robe  and  wherever  a  heraldic 
emblem  could  be  employed. 

But  even  in  the  meadows  of  France  Napoleon  need  not  have 
looked  far  from  the  fleurs-de-lis  growing  there  to  find  bees. 
Indeed,  this  gorgeous  flower  is  thought  by  scientists  to  be  all 
that  it  is  for  the  bees'  benefit,  which,  of  course,  is  its  own  also. 
Abundant  moisture,  from  which  to  manufacture  nectar — a  prime 
necessity  with  most  irises — certainly  is  for  our  blue  flag.  The 
large  showy  blossom  cannot  but  attract  the  passing  bee,  whose 
favorite  color  (according  to  Sir  John  Lubbock)  it  waves.  The 
bee  alights  on  the  convenient,  spreading  platform,  and,  guided  by 
the  dark  veining  and  golden  lines  leading  to  the  nectar,  sips  the 
delectable  fluid  shortly  to  be  changed  to  honey.  Now,  as  he  raises 
his  head  and  withdraws  it  from  the  nectary,  he  must  rub  it  against 
the  pollen-laden  anther  above,  and  some  of  the  pollen  necessarily 
falls  on  the  visitor.  As  the  sticky  side  of  the  plate  (stigma),  just 
under  the  petal-like  division  of  the  style,  faces  away  from  the 
anther,  which  is  below  it  in  any  case,  the  flower  is  marvellously 
guarded  against  fertilization  from  its  own  pollen.  The  bee,  flying 
off  to  another  iris,  must  first  brush  past  the  projecting  lip  of  the 
over-arching  style,  and  leave  on  the  stigmatic  outer  surface  of  the 
plate  some  of  the  pollen  brought  from  the  first  flower,  before 
reaching  the  nectary.  Thus  cross-fertilization  is  effected ;  and 
Darwin  has  shown  how  necessary  this  is  to  insure  the  most  vigor- 
ous and  beautiful  offspring.  Without  this  wonderful  adaptation 
of  the  flower  to  the  requirements  of  its  insect  friends,  and  of  the 
insect  to  the  needs  of  the  flower,  both  must  perish  ;  the  former 
from  hunger,  the  latter  because  unable  to  perpetuate  its  race. 
And  yet  man  has  greedily  appropriated  all  the  beauties  of  the 
floral  kingdom  as  designed  for  his  sole  delight  ! 

The  name  iris,  meaning  a  deified  rainbow,  which  was  given 
this  group  of  plants  by  the  ancients,  shows  a  fine  appreciation  of 
their  superb  coloring,  their  ethereal  texture,  and  the  evanescent 
beauty  of  the  blossom.  (Illustration,  frontispiece.) 

In  spite  of  the  name  given  to  another  species,  the  Southern 
Blue  Flag  (/.  hexagona)  is  really  the  larger  one  ;  its  leaves,  which 
are  bright  green,  and  never  hoary,  often  equalling  the  stem  in  its 
height  of  from  two  to  three  feet.  The  handsome  solitary  flower, 
similar  to  that  of  the  larger  blue  flag,  nevertheless  has  its  broad 
outer  divisions  fully  an  inch  larger,  and  is  seated  in  the  axils  at 
the  top  of  the  circular  stem.  The  oblong,  cylindric,  six-angled 
capsule  also  contains  two  rows  of  seeds  in  each  cavity.  From 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

South  Carolina  and  Florida  to  Kentucky,  Missouri,  and  Texas  one 
finds  this  iris  blooming  in  the  swamps  during  April  and  May. 

The  Slender  Blue  Flag  (/.  prismaticd)  (I.  Virginicaoi  Gray), 
found  growing  from  New  Brunswick  to  North  Carolina,  but  mainly 
near  the  coast,  and  often  in  the  same  oozy  ground  with  the  larger 
blue  flag,  may  be  known  by  its  grass-like  leaves,  two  or  three  of 
which  usually  branch  out  from  the  slender  flexuous  stem  ;  by  its 
solitary  or  two  blue  flowers,  variegated  with  white  and  veined 
with  yellow,  that  rear  themselves  on  slender  foot-stems  ;  and  by 
the  sharply  three-angled,  narrow,  oblong  capsule,  in  which  but 
one  row  of  seeds  is  borne  in  each  cavity.  This  is  the  most 
graceful  member  of  a  rather  stiffly  stately  family. 

Pointed    Blue-eyed    Grass;    Eye-bright;    Blue 
Star 

(Sisyrinchium  angustifolium)  Iris  family 

Flowers — From  blue  to  purple,  with  a  yellow  centre  ;  a  Western 
variety,  white  ;  usually  several  buds  at  the  end  of  stem, 
between  2  erect  unequal  bracts ;  about  Y-Z  in.  across ;  perianth 
of  6  spreading  divisions,  each  pointed  with  a  bristle  from  a 
notch  ;  stamens  3,  the  filaments  united  to  above  the  middle  ; 
pistil  i,  its  tip  3-cleft.  Stem:  3  to  14  in.  tall,  pale  hoary 
green,  flat,  rigid,  2-edged.  Leaves:  Grass-like,  pale,  rigid, 
mostly  from  base.  Fruit:  3-celIed  capsule,  nearly  globose. 

Preferred  Habitat — Moist  fields  and  meadows. 

Flowering  Season — May — August. 

Distribution — Newfoundland  to  British  Columbia,  from  eastern  slope 
of  Rocky  Mountains  to  Atlantic,  south  to  Virginia  and  Kansas. 

Only  for  a  day,  and  that  must  be  a  bright  one,  will  this  "little 
sister  of  the  stately  blue  flag"  open  its  eyes,  to  close  them  in  in- 
dignation on  being  picked  ;  nor  will  any  coaxing  but  the  sun- 
shine's induce  it  to  open  them  again  in  water,  immediately  after. 
The  dainty  flower,  growing  in  dense  tufts,  makes  up  in  numbers 
what  it  lacks  in  size  and  lasting  power,  flecking  our  meadows 
with  purplish  ultramarine  blue  in  a  sunny  June  morning.  Later 
in  the  day,  apparently  there  are  no  blossoms  there,  for  all  are 
tightly  closed,  never  to  bloom  again.  New  buds  will  unfold  to 
tinge  the  field  on  the  morrow. 

Usually  three  buds  nod  from  between  a  pair  of  bracts,  the 
lower  one  of  which  may  be  twice  the  length  of  the  upper  one  ; 
but  only  one  flower  opens  at  a  time.  Slight  variations  in  this 
plant  have  been  considered  sufficient  to  differentiate  several  species 
formerly  included  by  Gray  and  other  American  botanists  under 
the  name  of  S.  Bermudiana. 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

Large,  or  Early,  Purple-fringed  Orchis 

(Habenaria  grandiflord)  Orchid  family 
(H.  fimbriata  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Pink-purple  and  pale  lilac,  sometimes  nearly  white  ; 
fragrant,  alternate,  clustered  in  thick,  dense  spikes  from  3  to 
15  in.  long.  Upper  sepal  and  toothed  petals  erect;  the  lip 
of  deepest  shade,  y2  in.  long,  fan-shaped,  ^-parted,  fringed 
half  its  length,  and  prolonged  at  base  into  slender,  long  spur; 
stamen  united  with  style  into  short  column;  2  anther 
sacs  slightly  divergent,  the  hollow  between  them  glutinous, 
stigmatic.  Stem  :  i  to  5  ft.  high,  angled,  twisted.  Leaves : 
Oval,  large,  sheathing  the  stem  below;  smaller,  lance-shaped 
ones  higher  up;  bracts  above.  Root:  Thick,  fibrous. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rich,  moist  meadows,  muddy  places,  woods. 

Flowering  Season— June — August. 

Distribution — New  Brunswick  to  Ontario;  southward  to  North 
Carolina,  westward  to  Michigan. 

Because  of  the  singular  and  exquisitely  unerring  adaptations 
of  orchids  as  a  family  to  their  insect  visitors,  no  group  of  plants 
has  greater  interest  for  the  botanist  since  Darwin  interpreted 
their  marvellous  mechanism,  and  Gray,  his  instant  disciple, 
revealed  the  hidden  purposes  of  our  native  American  species,  no 
less  wonderfully  constructed  than  the  most  costly  exotic  in  a 
millionaire's  hothouse. 

A  glance  at  the  spur  of  this  orchid,  one  of  the  handsomest 
and  most  striking  of  its  clan,  and  the  heavy  perfume  of  the 
flower,  would  seem  to  indicate  that  only  a  moth  with  a  long 
proboscis  could  reach  the  nectar  secreted  at  the  base  of  the 
thread-like  passage.  Butterflies,  attracted  by  the  conspicuous 
color,  sometimes  hover  about  the  showy  spikes  of  bloom,  but  it 
is  probable  that,  to  secure  a  sip,  all  but  possibly  the  very  largest 
of  them  must  go  to  the  smaller  purple-fringed  orchis,  whose 
shorter  spur  holds  out  a  certain  prospect  of  reward ;  for,  in  these 
two  cases,  as  in  so  many  others,  the  flower's  welcome  for  an 
insect  is  in  exact  proportion  to  the  length  of  its  visitor's  tongue. 
Doubtless  it  is  one  of  the  smaller  sphinx  moths,  such  as  we  see 
at  dusk  working  about  the  evening  primrose  and  other  flowers 
deep  of  chalice,  and  heavily  perfumed  to  guide  visitors  to  their 
feast,  that  is  the  great  purple-fringed  orchid's  benefactor,  since 
the  length  of  its  tongue  is  perfectly  adapted  to  its  needs.  At- 
tracted by  the  showy,  broad  lower  petal,  his  wings  ever  in  rapid 
motion,  the  moth  proceeds  to  unroll  his  proboscis  and  drain  the  cup, 
that  is  frequently  an  inch  and  a  half  deep.  Thrusting  in  his  head, 

12 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

either  one  or  both  of  his  large,  projecting  eyes  are  pressed  against 
the  sticky  button-shaped  disks  to  which  the  pollen  masses  are 
attached  by  a  stalk,  and  as  he  raises  his  head  to  depart,  feeling 
that  he  is  caught,  he  gives  a  little  jerk  that  detaches  them,  and 
away  he  flies  with  these  still  fastened  to  his  eyes. 

Even  while  he  is  flying  to  another  flower,  that  is  to  say,  in 
half  a  minute,  the  stalks  of  the  pollen  masses  bend  downward 
from  the  perpendicular  and  slightly  toward  the  centre,  or  just  far 
enough  to  require  the  moth,  in  thrusting  his  probosis  into  the 
nectary,  to  strike  the  glutinous,  sticky  stigma.  Now,  withdraw- 
ing his  head,  either  or  both  of  the  golden  clubs  he  brought  in 
with  him  will  be  left  on  the  precise  spot  where  they  will  fertilize 
the  flower.  Sometimes,  but  rarely,  we  catch  a  butterfly  or  moth 
from  the  smaller  or  larger  purple  orchids  with  a  pollen  mass 
attached  to  his  tongue,  instead  of  to  his  eyes ;  this  is  when  he 
does  not  make  his  entrance  from  the  exact  centre — as  in  these 
flowers  he  is  not  obliged  to  do — and  in  order  to  reach  the  nectary 
his  tongue  necessarily  brushes  against  one  of  the  sticky  anther 
sacs.  The  performance  may  be  successfully  imitated  by  thrust- 
ing some  blunt  point  about  the  size  of  a  moth's  head,  a  dull  pen- 
cil or  a  knitting-needle,  into  the  flower  as  an  insect  would  enter. 
Withdraw  the  pencil,  and  one  or  both  of  the  pollen  masses 
will  be  found  sticking  to  it,  and  already  automatically  changing 
their  attitude.  In  the  case  of  the  large,  round-leaved  orchis, 
whose  greenish-white  flowers  are  fertilized  in  a  similar  manner 
by  the  sphinx  moth,  the  anther  sacs  converge,  like  little  horns; 
and  their  change  of  attitude  while  they  are  being  carried  to  fer- 
tilize another  flower  is  quite  as  exquisitely  exact. 

Usually  in  wetter  ground  than  we  find  its  more  beautiful 
big  sister  growing  in,  most  frequently  in  swamps  and  bogs,  the 
Smaller  Purple-fringed  Orchis  (H.  psycodes)  lifts  its  perfumed 
lilac  spires.  Thither  go  the  butterflies  and  long-lipped  bees  to 
feast  in  July  and  August.  Inasmuch  as  without  their  aid  the  orchid 
must  perish  from  its  inability  to  set  fertile  seed,  no  wonder  it 
woos  its  benefactors  with  a  showy  mass  of  color,  charming  fringes, 
sweet  perfume,  and  copious  draughts  of  nectar,  and  makes  their 
visits  of  the  utmost  value  to  itself  by  the  ingenious  mechanism 
described  above.  Here  is  no  waste  of  pollen;  that  is  snugly 
packed  in  little  bundles,  ready  to  be  carried  off,  but  placed  where 
they  cannot  come  in  contact  with  the  adjoining  stigma,  since 
every  orchid,  almost  without  exception,  refuses  to  be  deteriorated 
through  self-fertilization. 

From  New  Jersey  and  Illinois  southward,  particularly  in 
mountainous  regions,  if  not  among  the  mountains  themselves, 
the  Fringeless  Purple  Orchis  (H.  peramoena)  may  be  found  bloom- 
ing in  moist  meadows  through  July  and  August.  Moisture,  from 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

which  to  manufacture  the  nectar  that  orchids  rely  upon  so  largely 
to  entice  insects  to  work  for  them,  is  naturally  a  prime  necessity; 
yet  Sprengel  attempted  to  prove  that  many  orchids  are  gaudy 
shams  and  produce  no  nectar,  but  exist  by  an  organized  system 
of  deception.  "  Scheinsaftblumen  "  he  called  them.  From  the 
number  of  butterflies  seen  hovering  about  this  fringeless  orchis 
and  its  more  attractive  kin,  it  is  small  wonder  their  nectaries  are 
soon  exhausted  and  they  are  accused  of  being  gay  deceivers. 
Sprengel's  much-quoted  theory  would  credit  moths,  butterflies, 
and  even  the  highly  intelligent  bees  with  scant  sense;  but  Dar- 
win, who  thoroughly  tested  it,  forever  exonerated  these  insects 
from  imputed  stupidity  and  the  flowers  from  gross  dishonesty. 
He  found  that  many  European  orchids  secrete  their  nectar  between 
the  outer  and  inner  walls  of  the  tube,  which  a  bumblebee  can 
easily  pierce,  but  where  Sprengel  never  thought  to  look  for  it. 
The  large  lip  of  this  orchis  is  not  fringed,  but  has  a  fine  picotee 
edge.  The  showy  violet-purple,  long-spurred  flowers  are  alter- 
nately set  on  a  stem  that  is  doing  its  best  if  it  reach  a  height  of 
two  and  a  half  feet. 


Water-shield,  or  Water  Target 

(Brasenia  purpurea)  Water-lily  family 
(B.  peltata  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Small,  dull  purplish,  about  YT,  in.  across,  on  stout  foot- 
stalks from  axils  of  upper  leaves;  3  narrow  sepals  and  petals; 
stamens  12  to  18;  pistils  4  to  18,  forming  i  to  3-seeded  pods. 
Stem:  From  submerged  rootstock;  slender,  branching,  several 
feet  long,  covered  with  clear  jelly,  as  are  footstalks  and  lower 
leaf  surfaces.  Leaves :  On  long  petioles  attached  to  centre  of 
under  side  of  leaf,  floating  or  rising,  oval  to  roundish,  2  to  4 
in.  long,  \y2  to  2  in.  wide. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Still,  rather  deep  water  of  ponds  and  slow 
streams. 

Flowering  Season — All  summer. 

Distribution — Parts  of  Asia,  Africa,  and  Australia,  Nova  Scotia  to 
Cuba,  and  westward  from  California  to  Puget  Sound. 

Of  this  pretty  water  plant  Dr.  Abbott  says,  in  "Wasteland 
Wanderings":  "I  gathered  a  number  of  floating,  delicate  leaves, 
and  endeavored  to  secure  the  entire  stem  also;  but  this  was  too 
difficult  a  task  for  an  August  afternoon.  The  under  side  of  the 
stem  and  leaf  are  purplish  brown  and  were  covered  with  trans- 
lucent jelly,  embedded  in  which  were  millions  of  what  I  took  to 
be  insects'  eggs.  They  certainly  had  that  appearance.  I  was 

H 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

far  more  interested  to  find  that,  usually,  beneath  each  leaf  there 
was  hiding  a  little  pike.  The  largest  was  not  two  inches  in 
length.  When  disturbed,  they  swam  a  few  inches,  and  seemed 
wholly  '  at  sea '  if  there  was  not  another  leaf  near  by  to  afford 
them  shelter." 


European,  or  Common  Garden,  Columbine 

(Aquilegia  vulgaris)  Crowfoot  family 

Flowers — Showy,  blue,  purple,  or  white,  ij^  to  2  in.  broad,  or 
about  as  broad  as  long  ;  spurs  stout  and  strongly  incurved. 
General  characteristics  of  plant  resembling  wild  columbine. 

Preferred  Habitat — Escaped  from  gardens  to  woods  and  fields  in 
Eastern  and  Middle  States.  Native  of  Europe. 

Flowering  Season — May — July. 

A  heavier,  less  graceful  flower  than  either  the  wild  red  and 
yellow  columbine  or  the  exquisite,  long-spurred,  blue  and  white 
species  {A.  ccerulea)  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  region;  nevertheless 
this  European  immigrant,  now  making  itself  at  home  here,  is  a 
charming  addition  to  our  flora.  How  are  insects  to  reach  the 
well  of  nectar  secreted  in  the  tip  of  its  incurved,  hooked  spur  ? 
Certain  of  the  long-lipped  bees,  large  bumble-bees,  whose  tongues 
have  developed  as  rapidly  as  the  flower,  are  able  to  drain  it. 
Humming-birds,  partial  to  red  flowers,  fertilize  the  wild  colum- 
bine, but  let  this  one  alone.  Miiller  watched  a  female  bumblebee 
making  several  vain  attempts  to  sip  this  blue  one.  Soon  the  bril- 
liant idea  of  biting  a  hole  through  each  spur  flashed  through  her 
little  brain,  and  the  first  experiment  proving  delightfully  success- 
ful, she  proceeded  to  bite  holes  through  other  flowers  without  first 
trying  to  suck  them.  Apparently  she  satisfied  her  feminine  con- 
science with  the  reflection  that  the  flower  which  made  dining  so 
difficult  for  its  benefactors  deserved  no  better  treatment. 


Field,  or  Branched,  Larkspur;  Knight's-spur; 
Lark-heel 

(Delphinium  Consolida)  Crowfoot  family 

Flowers — Blue  to  pinkish  and  whitish,  i  to  i  YZ  in.  long,  hung  on 
slender  stems,  and  scattered  along  spreading  branches;  5 
petal-like  sepals,  the  rear  one  prolonged  into  long,  slender, 
curving  spur;  2  petals,  united.  Stem  :  i  to  2^  ft.  high. 
Leaves  :  Divided  into  very  finely  cut  linear  segments. 

15 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

Fruit :  Erect,  smooth  pod  tipped  with  a  short  beak ;  open 
on  one  side. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Roadsides  and  fields. 

Flowering  Season — June — August. 

Distribution — Naturalized  from  Europe;  from  New  Jersey  south- 
ward, occasionally  escaped  from  gardens  farther  north. 

Keats  should  certainly  have  extolled  the  larkspurs  in  his 
sonnet  on  blue.  No  more  beautiful  group  of  plants  contributes  to 
the  charm  of  gardens,  woods,  and  roadsides,  where  some  have 
escaped  cultivation  and  become  naturalized,  than  the  delphinium, 
that  take  their  name  from  a  fancied  resemblance  to  a  dolphin  (del- 
phiri),  given  them  by  Linnaeus  in  one  of  his  wild  flights  of  imagina- 
tion. Having  lost  the  power  to  fertilize  themselves,  according  to 
Muller,  they  are  pollemzed  by  both  bees  and  butterflies,  insects 
whose  tongues  have  kept  pace  with  the  development  of  certain 
flowers,  such  as  the  larkspur,  columbine,  and  violet,  that  they  may 
reach  into  the  deep  recesses  of  the  spurs  where  the  nectar  is 
hidden  from  all  but  benefactors. 

The  Tall  Wild  Larkspur  (D.  urceolatum,  or  D.  exaltatum  of 
Gray)  waves  long,  crowded,  downy  wands  of  intense  purplish 
blue  in  the  rich  woods  of  Western  Pennsylvania,  southward  to 
the  Carolinas  and  Alabama,  and  westward  to  Nebraska.  Its  spur 
is  nearly  straight,  not  to  increase  the  difficulty  a  bee  must  have  in 
pressing  his  lips  through  the  upper  and  lower  petals  to  reach  the 
nectar  at  the  end  of  it.  First,  the  stamens  successively  raise  them- 
selves in  the  passage  back  of  the  petals  to  dust  his  head ;  then, 
when  each  has  shed  its  pollen  and  bent  down  again,  the  pistil 
takes  its  turn  in  occupying  the  place,  so  that  a  pollen-laden  bee, 
coming  to  visit  the  blossom  from  an  earlier  flower,  can  scarcely 
help  fertilizing  it.  It  is  said  there  are  but  two  insects  in  Europe 
with  lips  long  enough  to  reach  the  bottom  of  the  long  horn  of 
plenty  hung  by  the  Bee  Larkspur  (D.  elatttm),  that  we  know  only 
in  gardens  here.  Its  yellowish  bearded  lower  petals  readily  de- 
ceive one  into  thinking  a  bee  has  just  alighted  there. 

From  April  to  June  the  Dwarf  Larkspur  or  Stagger-weed  (D. 
income),  which,  however,  may  sometimes  grow  three  feet  high, 
lifts  a  loose  raceme  of  blue,  rarely  white,  flowers  an  inch  or  more 
long,  at  the  end  of  a  stout  stem  rising  from  a  tuberous  root.  Its 
slightly  ascending  spur,  its  three  widely  spreading  seed  vessels, 
and  the  deeply  cut  leaf  of  from  five  to  seven  divisions  are 
distinguishing  characteristics.  From  Western  Pennsylvania  and 
Georgia  to  Arkansas  and  Minnesota  it  is  found  in  rather  stiff  soil. 
Butterflies,  which  prefer  erect  flowers,  have  some  difficulty  to  cling 
while  they  drain  the  almost  upright  spurs,  especially  the  Papilios, 
which  usually  suck  with  their  wings  in  motion.  But  the  bees,  to 

16 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

which  the  delphinium  are  best  adapted,  although  butterflies  visit 
them  quite  as  frequently,  find  a  convenient  landing  place  prepared 
for  them,  and  fertilize  the  flower  while  they  sip  with  ease. 

More  slender,  downy,  and  dwarf  of  stem  than  the  preceding 
is  the  Carolina  Larkspur  (D.  Carolinianum),  whose  blue  flowers, 
varying  to  white,  and  its  very  finely  cleft  leaves,  may  be  found  in 
the  South,  on  prairies  in  the  North  and  West,  and  in  the  Rocky 
Mountain  region. 


Liver-leaf ;  Hepatica ;  Liverwort ;  Round- 
lobed,  or  Kidney  Liver-leaf;  Noble  Liver- 
wort; Squirrel  Cup 

(Hepatica  Hepatica)  Crowfoot  family 
(H.  triloba  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Blue,  lavender,  purple,  pinkish,  or  white;  occasionally, 
not  always,  fragrant;  6  to  12  petal-like,  colored  sepals 
(not  petals,  as  they  appear  to  be),  oval  or  oblong;  numerous 
stamens,  all  bearing  anthers  ;  pistils  numerous  ;  3  small, 
sessile  leaves,  forming  an  involucre  directly  under  flower, 
simulate  a  calyx,  for  which  they  might  be  mistaken.  Stems  : 
Spreading  from  the  root,  4  to  6  in.  high,  a  solitary  flower  or 
leaf  borne  at  end  of  each  furry  stem.  Leaves :  3-lobed  and 
rounded,  leathery,  evergreen  ;  sometimes  mottled  with,  or 
entirely,  reddish  purple ;  spreading  on  ground,  rusty  at  bloom- 
ing time,  the  new  leaves  appearing  after  the  flowers.  Fruit: 
Usually  as  many  as  pistils,  dry,  i -seeded,  oblong,  sharply 
pointed,  never  opening. 

Preferred  Habitat — Woods ;  light  soil  on  hillsides. 

Flowering  Season — December — May. 

Distribution — Canada  to  Northern  Florida,  Manitoba  to  Iowa  and 
Missouri.  Most  common  East. 

Even  under  the  snow  itself  bravely  blooms  the  delicate 
hepatica,  wrapped  in  fuzzy  furs  as  if  to  protect  its  stems  and  nod- 
ding buds  from  cold.  After  the  plebeian  skunk  cabbage,  that 
ought  scarcely  to  be  reckoned  among  true  flowers — and  William 
Hamilton  Gibson  claimed  even  before  it — it  is  the  first  blossom  to 
appear.  Winter  sunshine,  warming  the  hillsides  and  edges  of 
woods,  opens  its  eyes, 

"  Blue  as  the  heaven  it  gazes  at, 
Startling  the  loiterer  in  the  naked  gloves 
With  unexpected  beauty  ;  for  the  time 
Of  blossoms  and  green  leaves  is  yet  afar." 

a  17 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

"  There  are  many  things  left  for  May,"  says  John  Burroughs, 
"but  nothing  fairer,  if  as  fair,  as  the  first  flower,  the  hepatica. 
I  find  I  have  never  admired  this  little  firstling  half  enough.  When 
at  the  maturity  of  its  charms,  it  is  certainly  the  gem  of  the 
woods.  What  an  individuality  it  has!  No  two  clusters  alike; 
all  shades  and  sizes.  ...  A  solitary  blue-purple  one,  fully 
expanded  and  rising  over  the  brown  leaves  or  the  green  moss,  its 
cluster  of  minute  anthers  showing  like  a  group  of  pale  stars  on 
its  little  firmament,  is  enough  to  arrest  and  hold  the  dullest  eye. 
Then,  .  .  .  there  are  individual  hepaticas,  or  individual  fami- 
lies among  them,  that  are  sweet  scented.  The  gift  seems  as 
capricious  as  the  gift  of  genius  in  families.  You  cannot  tell  which 
the  fragrant  ones  are  till  you  try  them.  Sometimes  it  is  the 
large  white  ones,  sometimes  the  large  purple  ones,  sometimes 
the  small  pink  ones.  The  odor  is  faint,  and  recalls  that  of  the 
sweet  violets.  A  correspondent,  who  seems  to  have  carefully 
observed  these  fragrant  hepaticas,  writes  me  that  this  gift  of  odor 
is  constant  in  the  same  plant;  that  the  plant  which  bears  sweet- 
scented  flowers  this  year  will  bear  them  next." 

It  is  not  evident  that  insect  aid  is  necessary  to  transfer  the 
tiny,  hairy  spiral  ejected  from  each  cell  of  the  antherid,  after  it  has 
burst  from  ripeness,  to  the  canal  of  the  flask-shaped  organ  at 
whose  base  the  germ-cell  is  located.  Perfect  flowers  can  fertilize 
themselves.  But  pollen-feeding  flies,  and  female  hive  bees  which 
collect  it,  and  the  earliest  butterflies  trifle  about  the  blossoms  when 
the  first  warm  days  come.  Whether  they  are  rewarded  by  finding 
nectar  or  not  is  still  a  mooted  question.  Possibly  the  papillae  which 
cover  the  receptacle  secrete  nectar,  for  almost  without  exception 
the  insect  visitors  thrust  their  proboscides  down  between  the 
spreading  filaments  as  if  certain  of  a  sip.  None  merely  feed  on  the 
pollen  except  the  flies  and  the  hive  bee. 

The  Sharp-lobed  Liver-leaf  (Hepatica  acuta)  differs  chiefly 
from  the  preceding  in  having  the  ends  of  the  lobes  of  its  leaves 
and  the  tips  of  the  three  leaflets  that  form  its  involucre  quite 
sharply  pointed.  Its  range,  while  perhaps  not  actually  more 
westerly,  appears  so,  since  it  is  rare  in  the  East,  where  its  cousin 
is  so  abundant;  and  common  in  the  West,  where  the  round-lobed 
liver-leaf  is  scarce.  It  blooms  in  March  and  April.  Professor 
Halsted  has  noted  that  this  species  bears  staminate  flowers  on 
one  plant  and  pistillate  flowers  on  another ;  whereas  the  Hepatica 
Hepatica  usually  bears  flowers  of  both  sexes  above  the  same  root. 
The  blossoms,  which  close  at  night  to  keep  warm,  and  open  in 
the  morning,  remain  on  the  beautiful  plant  for  a  long  time  to  ac- 
commodate the  bees  and  flies  that,  in  this  case,  are  essential  to  the 
perpetuation  of  the  species. 


From  Blue  to  Purple 


Purple  Virgin's  Bower 

(Atragene  Americana}  Crowfoot  family 

Flowers — Showy,  purplish  blue,  about 3  in.  across;  4  sepals,  broadly 
expanded,  thin,  translucent,  strongly  veined,  very  large,  simu- 
lating petals  ;  petals  small,  spoon-shaped  ;  stamens  very  nu- 
merous ;  styles  long,  persistent,  plumed  throughout.  Stem: 
Trailing  or  partly  climbing  with  the  help  of  leafstalks  and 
leaflets.  Leaves:  Opposite,  compounded  of  jj  egg-shaped, 
pointed  leaflets  on  slender  petioles. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rocky  woodlands. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution — Hudson  Bay  westward,  south  to  Minnesota  and 
Virginia. 

The  day  on  which  one  finds  this  rare  and  beautiful  flower  in 
some  rocky  ravine  high  among  the  hills  or  mountains  becomes 
memorable  to  the  budding  botanist.  At  an  elevation  of  three 
thousand  feet  in  the  Catskills  it  trails  its  way  over  the  rocks, 
fallen  trees,  and  undergrowth  of  the  forest,  suggesting  some  of 
the  handsome  Japanese  species  introduced  by  Sieboldt  and  For- 
tune to  Occidental  gardens.  No  one  who  sees  this  broadly  ex- 
panded blossom  could  confuse  it  either  with  the  thick  and  bell- 
shaped  purple  Leather-flower  (C.  l^tornd),  so  exquisitely  feathery 
in  fruit,  that  grows  in  rich,  moist  soil  from  Pennsylvania  south- 
ward and  westward ;  or  with  the  far  more  graceful  and  deliciously 
fragrant  purple  Marsh  Clematis  (C.  crispa)  of  our  Southern  States. 
The  latter,  though  bell-shaped  also,  has  thin,  recurved  sepals, 
and  its  persistent  styles  are  silky,  not  feathery  at  seed-time. 


Orpine;  Live-forever;  Midsummer-Men;  Live- 
long; Pudding-bag  Plant;  Garden  Stone- 
crop;  Witches5  Money 

(Sedum  Telephium)  Orpine  family 

Flowers — Dull  purplish,  very  pale  or  bright  reddish  purple  in  close, 
round,  terminal  clusters,  each  flower  y$  in.  or  less  across,  5- 
parted,  the  petals  twice  as  long  as  the  sepals;  10  stamens, 
alternate  ones  attached  to  petals;  .pistils  4  or  5.  Stem  :  2  ft. 
high  or  less,  erect,  simple,  in  tufts,  very  smooth,  pale  green, 
juicy,  leafy.  Leaves:  Alternate,  oval,  slightly  scalloped, 
thick,  fleshy,  smooth,  juicy,  pale  gray  green,  with  stout  midrib, 
seated  on  stalk. 

'9 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

Preferred  Habitat — Fields,  waysides,  rocky  soil,  originally  escaped 

from  gardens. 

Flowering  Season — June — September. 
Distribution — Quebec  westward,  south  to  Michigan  and  Maryland. 

Children  know  the  live-forever,  not  so  well  by  the  variable 
flower — for  it  is  a  niggardly  bloomer — as  by  the  thick  leaf  that 
they  delight  to  hold  in  the  mouth  until,  having  loosened  the  mem- 
brane, they  are  able  to  inflate  it  like  a  paper  bag.  Sometimes 
dull,  sometimes  bright,  the  flower  clusters  never  fail  to  attract 
many  insects  to  their  feast,  which  is  accessible  even  to  those  of 
short  tongues.  Each  blossom  is  perfect  in  itself,  i.e.,  it  contains 
both  stamens  and  pistils ;  but  to  guard  against  self-fertilization  it 
ripens  its  anthers  and  sheds  its  pollen  on  the  insects  that  carry  it 
away  to  older  flowers  before  its  own  stigmas  mature  and  be- 
come susceptible  to  imported  pollen.  After  the  seed-cases  take  on 
color,  they  might  be  mistaken  for  blossoms. 

As  if  the  plant  did  not  already  possess  enough  popular  names, 
it  needs  must  share  with  the  European  golden-rod  and  our  com- 
mon mullein  the  title  of  Aaron's  rod.  Sedere,  to  sit,  the  root  of 
the  generic  name,  applies  with  rare  appropriateness  to  this  entire 
group  that  we  usually  find  seated  on  garden  walls,  rocks,  or,  in 
Europe,  even  on  the  roofs  of  old  buildings.  Rooting  freely  from 
the  joints,  our  plant  forms  thrifty  tufts  where  there  is  little  apparent 
nourishment;  Vet  its  endurance  through  prolonged  drought  is 
remarkable.  Long  after  the  farmer's  scythe,  sweeping  over  the 
roadside,  has  laid  it  low,  it  thrives  on  the  juices  stored  up  in  fleshy 
leaves  and  stem  until  it  proves  its  title  to  the  most  lusty  of  all  folk 
names. 

Purple  or  Water  Avens 

(Geum  rrvale)  Rose  family 

Flowers — Purple,  with  some  orange  chrome,  I  in.  broad  or  less, 
terminal,  solitary,  nodding;  calyx  5-lobed,  purplish,  spread- 
ing; 5  petals,  abruptly  narrowed  into  claws,  forming  a  cup- 
shaped  corolla;  stamens  and  pistils  of  indefinite  number;  the 
styles,  jointed  and  bent  in  middle,  persistent,  feathery  below. 
Stem:  \  to  2  ft.  high,  erect,  simple  or  nearly  so,  hairy,  from 
thickish  rootstock.  Leaves :  Chiefly  from  root,  on  footstems ; 
lower  leaves  irregularly  parted;  the  side  segments  usually 
few  and  small;  the  i  to  3  terminal  segments  sharply,  irregu- 
larly lobed;  the  few  distant  stem  leaves  3-foliate  or  simple, 
mostly  seated  on  stem.  Fruit:  A  dry,  hairy  head  stalked  in 
calyx. 

Preferred  Habitat — Swamps  and  low,  wet  ground. 

Flowering  Season — May-^july. 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

Distribution — Newfoundland  far  westward,  south  to  Colorado, 
eastward  to  Missouri  and  Pennsylvania,  also  northern  parts 
of  Old  World. 

Mischievous  bumblebees,  thrusting  their  long  tongues  be- 
tween the  sepals  and  petals  of  these  unopened  flowers,  steal  nec- 
tar without  conferring  any  favor  in  return.  Later,  when  they 
behave  properly  and  put  their  heads  inside  to  feast  at  the  disk  on 
which  the  stamens  are  inserted,  they  dutifully  carry  pollen  from 
old  flowers  to  the  early  maturing  stigmas  of  younger  ones.  Self- 
fertilization  must  occur,  however,  if  the  bees  have  not  removed 
all  the  pollen  when  a  blossom  closes.  When  the  purple  avens 
opens  in  Europe,  the  bees  desert  even  the  primrose  to  feast  upon 
its  abundant  nectar.  Since  water  is  the  prime  necessity  in  the 
manufacture  of  this  sweet,  and  since  insects  that  feed  upon  it  have 
so  much  to  do  with  the  multiplication  of  flowers,  it  is  not  surpris- 
ing that  the  swamp,  which  has  been  called  "  nature's  sanctuary," 
should  have  its  altars  so  exquisitely  decked.  This  blossom  hangs 
its  head,  partly  to  protect  its  precious  nectar  from  rain,  and  partly 
to  make  pilfering  well-nigh  impossible  to  the  unwelcome  crawling 
insect  that  may  have  braved  the  forbidding  hairy  stems. 


Wild  Lupine;   Old  Maid's  Bonnets ;   Wild  Pea; 
Sun  Dial 

(Lupinus  perennis)  Pea  family 

Flowers — Vivid  blue,  very  rarely  pink  or  white,  butterfly-shaped  ; 

corolla  consisting  of  standard,  wings,  and  keel;  about  %  in. 

long,  borne  in  a  long  raceme  at  end  of  stem ;  calyx  2-lipped, 

deeply  toothed.      Stem :  Erect,  branching,  leafy,  i  to  2  ft. 

high.    Leaves:  Palmate,  compounded  of  from  7  to  1 1  (usually 

8)  leaflets.   Fruit :  A  broad,  flat,  very  hairy  pod,  I  y?.  in.  long, 

and  containing  4  or  5  seeds. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Dry,  sandy  places,  banks,  and  hillsides. 
Flowering  Season — May — June. 
Distribution  —  United    States  east    of   Mississippi,    and    eastern 

Canada. 

Farmers  once  thought  that  this  plant  preyed  upon  the  fertility 
of  their  soil,  as  we  see  in  the  derivation  of  its  name,  from  lupus, 
a  wolf ;  whereas  the  lupine  contents  itself  with  sterile  waste  land 
no  one  should  grudge  it — steep  gravelly  banks,  railroad  tracks, 
exposed  sunny  hills,  where  even  it  must  often  burn  out  under 
fierce  sunshine  did  not  its  root  penetrate  to  surprising  depths.  It 
spreads  far  and  wide  in  thrifty  colonies,  reflecting  the  vivid  color 
of  June  skies,  until,  as  Thoreau  says,  "the  earth  is  blued  with  it." 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

What  is  the  advantage  gained  in  the  pea-shaped  blossom  ? 
As  usual,  the  insect  that  fertilizes  the  flower  best  knows  the 
answer.  The  corolla  has  five  petals,  the  upper  one  called  the 
standard,  chiefly  a  flaunted  advertisement;  two  side  wings,  or 
platforms,  to  alight  on ;  and  a  keel  like  a  miniature  boat,  formed 
by  the  two  lower  petals,  whose  edges  meet.  In  this  the  pistil, 
stamens,  and  nectar  are  concealed  and  protected.  The  pressure 
of  a  bee's  weight  as  he  alights  on  the  wings,  light  as  it  must  be, 
is  nevertheless  sufficient  to  depress  and  open  the  keel,  which  is 
elastically  affected  by  their  motion,  and  so  to  expose  the  pollen 
just  where  the  long-lipped  bee  must  rub  off  some  against  his 
under  side  as  he  sucks  the  nectar.  He  actually  seems  to  pump  the 
pollen  that  has  fallen  into  the  forward  part  of  the  keel  upon  him- 
self, as  he  moves  about.  As  soon  as  he  leaves  the  flower,  the 
elastic  wings  resume  their  former  position,  thus  closing  the  keel 
to  prevent  waste  of  pollen.  Take  a  sweet  pea  from  the  garden, 
press  down  its  wings  with  the  thumb  and  forefinger  to  imitate 
the  action  of  the  bee  on  them;  note  how  the  keel  opens  to  dis- 
play its  treasures,  and  resumes  its  customary  shape  when  the 
pressure  is  removed. 

The  lupine  is  another  of  those  interesting  plants  which  go  to 
sleep  at  night.  Some  members  of  the  genus  erect  one  half  of  the 
leaf  and  droop  the  other  half  until  it  becomes  a  vertical  instead  of 
the  horizontal  star  it  is  by  day.  Frequently  the  leaflets  rotate  as 
much  as  90°  on  their  own  axes.  Some  lupines  fold  their  leaf- 
lets, not  at  night  only,  but  during  the  day  also  there  is  more  or  less 
movement  in  the  leaves.  Sun  dial,  a  popular  name  for  the  wild 
lupine,  has  reference  to  this  peculiarity.  The  leaf  of  our  species 
shuts  downward  around  its  stem,  umbrella  fashion,  or  the  leaflets 
are  erected  to  prevent  the  chilling  which  comes  to  horizontal  sur- 
faces by  radiation,  some  scientists  think.  "That  the  sleep  move- 
ments of  leaves  are  in  some  manner  of  high  importance  to  the 
plants  which  exhibit  them,"  says  Darwin,  "  few  will  dispute  who 
have  observed  how  complex  they  sometimes  are." 


Canadian  or  Showy  Tick-trefoil 

(Meibomia  Canadensis)  Pea  family 
(Desmodium  Canadense  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Pinkish  or  bluish  purple,  butterfly-shaped,  about  >^-in. 
long,  borne  in  dense,  terminal,  elongated  racemes.  Stem; 
Erect,  hairy,  leafy,  2  to  8  ft.  high.  Leaves:  Compounded  of 
3  oblong  leaflets,  the  central  one  largest;  upper  leaves  nearly 
seated  on  stem ;  bracts,  conspicuous  before  flowering,  early 
falling  off.  Fruit;  A  flat  pod,  about  i  in.  long,  jointed,  and 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

covered  with  minute  hooked  bristles,  the  lower  edge  of  pod 

scalloped ;  almost  seated  in  calyx. 
Preferred  Habitat — Thickets,  woods,  river  banks,  bogs. 
Flowering  Season — July — September. 
Distribution — New  Brunswick  to  Northwest  Territory,  south  to 

North  Carolina,  westward  to  Indian  Territory  and  Dakota. 

As  one  travels  hundreds  or  even  thousands  of  miles  in  a 
comfortable  railway  carriage  and  sees  the  same  flowers  growing 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  area,  one  cannot  but 
wonder  how  ever  the  plants  manage  to  make  the  journey.  We 
know  some  creep  along  the  ground,  or  under  it,  a  tortoise  pace,  but 
a  winning  one;  that  some  send  their  offspring  flying  away  from 
home,  like  dandelions  and  thistles;  and  many  others  with  wings 
and  darts  are  blown  by  the  wind.  Berries  have  their  seeds  dropped 
afar  by  birds.  Aquatic  plants  and  those  that  grow  beside  running 
water  travel  by  river  and  flood.  European  species  reach  our  shores 
among  the  ballast.  Darwin  raised  over  sixty  wild  plants  from 
seed  carried  in  a  pellet  of  mud  taken  from  the  leg  of  a  partridge. 
So  on  and  so  on.  The  imagination  delights  to  picture  these  floral 
vagabonds,  each  with  its  own  clever  method  of  getting  a  fresh 
start  in  the  world.  But  by  none  of  these  methods  just  mentioned 
do  the  tick-trefoils  spread  abroad.  Theirs  is  indeed  a  by  hook 
or  by  crook  system.  The  scalloped,  jointed  pod,  where  the  seeds 
lie  concealed,  has  minute  crooked  bristles,  which  catch  in  the 
clothing  of  man  or  beast,  so  that  every  herd  of  sheep,  every  dog, 
every  man,  woman,  or  child  who  passes  through  a  patch  of  tre- 
foils gives  them  a  lift.  After  a  walk  through  the  woods  and  lanes 
of  late  summer  and  autumn,  one's  clothes  reveal  scores  of  tramps 
that  have  stolen  a  ride  in  the  hope  of  being  picked  off  and  dropped 
amid  better  conditions  in  which  to  rear  a  family. 

Only  the  largest  bees  can  easily  "explode"  the  showy  tick- 
trefoil.  A  bumblebee  alights  upon  a  flower,  thrusts  his  head 
under  the  base  of  the  standard  petal,  and  forces  apart  the  wing 
petals  with  his  legs,  in  order  to  dislodge  them  from  the  standard. 
This  motion  causes  the  keel,  also  connected  with  the  standard,  to 
snap  down  violently,  thus  releasing  the  column  within  and  send- 
ing upward  an  explosion  of  pollen  on  the  under  surface  of  the 
bee.  Here  we  see  the  wing  petals  acting  as  triggers  to  discharge 
the  flower.  Depress  them  and  up  flies  the  fertilizing  dust — once. 
The  little  gun  will  not  "go  off"  twice.  No  nectar  rewards  the 
visitor,  which  usually  is  a  pollen-collecting  bee.  The  highly  in- 
telligent and  important  humblebee  has  the  advantage  over  his 
smaller  kin  in  being  able  to  discharge  the  pollen  from  both  large 
and  smaller  flowers. 

The  Naked-flowered  Tick-trefoil  (M.  nudiflora  or  D.  nudi- 
of  Gray)  lifts   narrow,   few-flowered  panicles  of  rose- 

23 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

purple  blooms  during  July  and  August.  The  flowers  are  much 
smaller  than  those  of  the  showy  trefoil;  however,  when  seen  in 
masses,  they  form  conspicuous  patches  of  color  in  dry  woods. 
Note  that  there  is  a  flower  stalk  which  is  usually  leafless  and  also 
a  leaf-bearing  stem  rising  from  the  base  of  the  plant,  the  latter 
with  its  leaves  all  crowded  at  the  top,  if  you  would  distinguish 
this  very  common  species  from  its  multitudinous  kin.  The  tre- 
foliate  leaves  are  pale  beneath.  The  two  or  three  jointed  pod 
rises  far  above  the  calyx  on  its  own  stalk,  as  in  the  next  species. 

The  Pointed-leaved  Tick-trefoil  (M.  grandiflora,  or  D.  acu- 
minatum  of  Gray)  has  for  its  distinguishing  feature  a  cluster  of 
leaves  high  up  on  the  same  stem  from  which  rises  a  stalk  bearing 
a  quantity  of  purple  flowers  that  are  large  by  comparison  only. 
The  leaves  have  leaflets  from  two  to  six  inches  long,  rounded 
on  the  sides,  but  acutely  pointed,  and  with  scattered  hairs  above 
and  below.  This  trefoil  is  found  blooming  in  dry  or  rocky  woods, 
throughout  a  wide  range,  from  June  to  September. 

Lying  outstretched  for  two  to  six  feet  on  the  dry  ground  of 
open  woods  and  copses  east  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Prostrate  Tick- 
trefoil  (A/.  Michauxii  or  D.  rotundifolium  of  Gray)  can  certainly 
be  named  by  its  soft  hairiness,  the  almost  perfect  roundness  of 
its  trefoliate  leaves,  its  rather  loose  racemes  of  deep  purple  flow- 
ers that  spring  both  from  the  leaf  axils  and  from  the  ends  of  the 
sometimes  branching  stem ;  and  by  its  three  to  five  jointed  pod, 
which  is  deeply  scalloped  on  its  lower  edge  and  somewhat  in- 
dented above,  as  well. 


Blue,  Tufted,  or  Cow  Vetch   or  Tare;  Cat 
Peas;  Tinegrass 

(yicia  Graced)  Pea  family 

Flowers — Blue,  later  purple;  Y-Z  in.  long,  growing  downward  in 
i -sided  spike,  15  to  40  flowered;  calyx  oblique,  small,  with 
unequal  teeth ;  corolla  butterfly-shaped,  consisting  of  standard, 
wings,  and  keel,  all  oblong;  the  first  clawed,  the  second 
oblique,  and  adhering  to  the  shorter  keel;  10  stamens,  i 
detached  from  other  9.  Stem :  Slender,  weak,  climbing  or 
trailing,  downy,  2  to  4  ft.  long.  Leaves :  Tendril  bearing, 
divided  into  18  to  24  thin,  narrow,  oblong  leaflets.  Fruit: 
A  smooth  pod  i  in.  long  or  less,  5  to  8  seeded. 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry  soil,  fields,  waste  land. 

Flowering  Season — June — August. 

Distribution — United  States  from  New  Jersey,  Kentucky,  and  Iowa 
northward  and  northwestward.  Europe  and  Asia. 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

Dry  fields  blued  with  the  bright  blossoms  of  the  tufted  vetch, 
and  roadsides  and  thickets  where  the  angular  vine  sends  forth 
vivid  patches  of  color,  resound  with  the  music  of  happy  bees.  Al- 
though the  parts  of  the  flower  fit  closely  together,  they  are  elastic, 
and  opening  with  the  energetic  visitor's  weight  and  movement  give 
ready  access  to  the  nectary.  On  his  departure  they  resume  their 
original  position,  to  protect  both  nectar  and  pollen  from  rain  and  pil- 
ferers whose  bodies  are  not  perfectly  adapted  to  further  the  flower's 
cross-fertilization.  The  common  humblebee  (Bombus  terrestris) 
plays  a  mean  trick,  all  too  frequently,  when  he  bites  a  hole  at  the 
base  of  the  blossom,  not  only  gaining  easy  access  to  the  sweets 
for  himself,  but  opening  the  way  for  others  less  intelligent  than  he, 
but  quite  ready  to  profit  by  his  mischief,  and  so  defeat  nature's 
plan.  Dr.  Ogle  observed  that  the  same  bee  always  acts  in  the 
same  manner,  one  sucking  the  nectar  legitimately,  another  always 
biting  a  hole  to  obtain  it  surreptitiously,  the  natural  inference,  of 
course,  being  that  some  bees,  like  small  boys,  are  naturally 
depraved. 

In  cultivated  fields  and  waste  places  farther  south  and  west- 
ward to  the  Pacific  Coast  roams  the  Common  or  Pebble  Vetch  or 
Tare  (K  sativa),  another  domesticated  weed  that  has  come  to  us 
from  Europe,  where  it  is  extensively  grown  for  fodder.  Let  no 
reproach  fall  on  these  innocent  plants  that  bear  an  opprobrious 
name:  the  tare  of  Scripture  is  altogether  different,  the  bearded 
darnel  of  Mediterranean  regions,  whose  leaves  deceive  one  by 
simulating  those  of  wheat,  and  whose  smaller  seeds,  instead  of 
nourishing  man,  poison  him.  Only  one  or  two  light  blue-purple 
flowers  grow  in  the  axils  of  the  leaves  of  our  common  vetch.  The 
leaf,  compounded  of  from  eight  to  fourteen  leaflets,  indented  at 
the  top,  has  a  long  terminal  tendril,  whose  little  sharp  tip  assists 
the  awkward  vine,  like  a  grappling  hook. 

The  American  Vetch,  or  Tare,  or  Pea  Vine  (K.  Americana) 
boasts  slightly  larger  bluish-purple  flowers  than  the  blue  vetch,  but 
fewer  of  them ;  from  three  to  nine  only  forming  its  loose  raceme. 
In  moist  soil  throughout  a  very  broad  northerly  and  westerly  range 
it  climbs  and  trails  its  graceful  way,  with  the  help  of  the  tendrils 
on  the  tips  of  leaves  compounded  of  from  eight  to  fourteen  oblong, 
blunt,  and  veiny  leaflets. 

Beach,  Sea,  Seaside,  or  Everlasting  Pea 

(Lathyrus  maritimus)  Pea  family 

Flowers — Purple,  butterfly-shaped,  consisting  of  standard  petal, 
wings,  and  keel;  i  in.  long  or  less,  clustered  in  short  raceme 
at  end  of  slender  footstalk  from  leaf  axils;  calyx  5-toothed; 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

stamens  10  (9  and  i);  style  curved,  flattened,  bearded  on 
inner  side.  Stem :  i  to  2  ft.  long,  stout,  reclining,  spreading, 
leafy.  Leaves :  Compounded  of  3  to  6  pairs  of  oblong  leaflets 
somewhat  larger  than  halbert-shaped  stipules  at  base  of  leaf; 
branched  tendrils  at  end  of  it.  Fruit:  A  flat,  2-valved,  veiny 
pod,  continuous  between  the  seeds. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Beaches  of  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans,  also  of 
Great  Lakes. 

Flowering  Season — May — August.  Sometimes  blooming  again  in 
autumn. 

Distribution — New  Jersey  to  Arctic  Circle  ;  also  Northern  Europe 
and  Asia. 

Sturdy  clumps  of  the  beach  pea,  growing  beyond  reach  of 
the  tide  in  the  dunes  and  sandy  wastelands  back  of  the  beach, 
afford  the  bee  the  last  restaurant  where  he  may  regale  himself 
without  fear  of  drowning.  From  some  members  of  the  pea  fam- 
ily, as  from  the  wild  lupine,  for  example,  his  weight,  as  he  moves 
about,  actually  pumps  the  pollen  that  has  fallen  into  the  forward 
part  of  the  blossom's  keel  onto  his  body,  that  he  may  transfer  it 
to  another  flower.  In  some  other  members  his  weight  so  de- 
presses the  keel  that  the  stamens  are  forced  out  to  dust  him  over, 
the  flower  resuming  its  original  position  to  protect  its  nectar  and 
the  remaining  pollen  just  as  soon  as  the  pressure  is  removed. 
Other  peas,  again,  burst  at  his  pressure,  and  discharge  their  pollen 
on  him.  Now,  in  the  beach  pea,  and  similarly  in  the  vetches, 
the  style  is  hairy  on  its  inner  side,  to  brush  out  the  pollen  on  the 
visitor  who  sets  the  automatic  sweeper  in  motion  as  he  alights 
and  moves  about.  So  perfectly  have  many  members  of  this  in- 
teresting family  adapted  their  structure  to  the  requirements  of 
insects,  and  so  implicitly  do  they  rely  on  their  automatic  mechan- 
ism, that  they  have  actually  lost  the  power  to  fertilize  themselves. 

In  moist  or  wet  ground  throughout  a  northern  range  from 
ocean  to  ocean,  the  Marsh  Vetchling  (Lathyrus  palustris)  bears 
its  purple,  butterfly-shaped  flowers,  that  are  the  merest  trifle 
over  half  the  size  of  those  of  the  beach  pea.  From  two  to  six  of 
these  little  blossoms  are  alternately  set  along  the  end  of  the  stalk. 
The  leaflets,  which  are  narrowly  oblong,  and  acute  at  the  apex, 
stand  up  opposite  each  other  in  pairs  (from  two  to  four)  along 
the  main  leafstalk,  that  splits  at  the  end  to  form  hooked  tendrils. 

Butterfly  or  Blue    Pea 

(Clitoria  Mariana)  Pea  family 

Flowers — Bright  lavender  blue,  showy,  about  2  in.  long;  from  i 
to  3  borne  on  a  short  peduncle.     Calyx  tubular,  5-toothed; 
26 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

corolla  butterfly-shaped,  consisting  of  very  large,  erect  stand- 
ard petal,  notched  at  rounded  apex;  2  oblong,  curved  wings, 
and  shorter,  acute  keel;  10 stamens;  style  incurved,  and  hairy 
along  inner  side.  Stem :  Smooth,  ascending  or  partly  twin- 
ing, i  to  3  ft.  high.  Leaves:  Compounded  of  3  oblong  leaf- 
lets, paler  beneath,  each  on  short  stalk.  Fruit:  A  few- 
seeded,  acutely  pointed  pod  about  i  in.  long. 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry  soil. 

Flowering  Season— June — July. 

Distribution — New  Jersey  to  Florida,  westward  to  Missouri,  Texas, 
and  Mexico. 

A  beautiful  blossom,  flaunting  a  large  banner  out  of  all  propor- 
tion to  the  size  of  its  other  parts,  that  it  may  arrest  the  attention  of 
its  benefactors  the  bees.  According  to  Henderson,  the  plant, 
which  is  found  in  our  Southern  States  and  over  the  Mexican  border, 
grows  also  in  the  Khasia  Mountains  of  India,  but  in  no  intervening 
place.  Several  members  of  the  tropic-loving  genus,  that  produce 
large,  highly  colored  flowers,  have  been  introduced  to  American 
hothouses;  but  the  blue  butterfly  pea  is  our  only  native  repre- 
sentative. The  genus  is  thought  to  take  its  name  from  kleio,  to 
shut  up,  in  reference  to  the  habit  these  peas  have  of  seeding  long 
before  the  flower  drops  off. 


Wild   or  Hog    Peanut 

(Falcata  comosa)  Pea  family 
(Amphicarpcea  monoica  of  Gray) 

flowers — Numerous  small,  showy  ones,  borne  in  drooping  clusters 
from  axils  of  upper  leaves ;  lilac,  pale  purplish,  or  rarely  white, 
butterfly-shaped,  consisting  of  standard  petal  partly  enfolding 
wings  and  keel.  Calyx  tubular,  4  or  5  toothed;  10  stamens 
(9  and  i);  i  pistil.  (Also  solitary  fertile  flowers,  lacking 
petals,  on  thread-like,  creeping  branches  from  lower  axils  or 
underground).  Stem  :  Twining  wiry  brownish-hairy,  i  to  8 
ft.  long.  Leaves:  Compounded  of  3  thin  leaflets,  egg-shaped 
at  base,  acutely  pointed  at  tip.  Fruit  Hairy  pod  i  in. 
long.  Also  i -seeded,  pale,  rounded,  underground  peanut. 

Preferred  Habitat — Moist  thickets,  shady  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — August — September. 

Distribution — New  Brunswick  westward  to  Nebraska,  south  to 
Gulf  of  Mexico. 

Amphicarpcea  ("seed  at  both  ends"),  the  Greek  name  by 
which  this  graceful  vine  was  formerly  known,  emphasizes  its  most 

27 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

interesting  feature,  that,  nevertheless,  seems  to  many  a  foolish  du- 
plication of  energy  on  Nature's  part.  Why  should  the  same  plant 
bear  two  kinds  of  blossoms  and  seeds  ?  Among  the  foliage  of  low 
shrubbery  and  plants  in  shady  lanes  and  woodside  thickets,  we 
see  the  delicate,  drooping  clusters  of  lilac  blossoms  hanging  where 
bees  can  readily  discover  them  and,  in  pilfering  their  sweets,  trans- 
fer their  pollen  from  flower  to  flower.  But  in  case  of  failure  to 
intercross  these  blossoms  that  are  dependent  upon  insect  help  to 
set  fertile  seed,  what  then  ?  Must  the  plant  run  the  risk  of  ex- 
tinction ?  Self-fertilization  may  be  an  evil,  but  failure  to  produce 
seed  at  all  is  surely  the  greatest  one.  To  guard  against  such  a 
calamity,  insignificant  looking  flowers  that  have  no  petals  to  open 
for  the  enticing  of  insects,  but  which  fertilize  themselves  with  their 
own  pollen,  produce  abundant  seed  close  to  the  ground  or  under 
it.  Then  what  need  of  the  showy  blossoms  hanging  in  the  thicket 
above  ?  Close  inbreeding  in  the  vegetable  world,  as  in  the  animal, 
ultimately  produces  degenerate  offspring;  and  although  the  showy 
lilac  blossoms  of  the  wild  peanut  yield  comparatively  few  cross- 
fertilized  seeds,  these  are  quite  sufficient  to  enable  the  vine  to 
maintain  those  desired  features  which  are  the  inheritance  from  an- 
cestors that  struggled  in  their  day  and  generation  after  perfection. 
No  plant  dares  depend  upon  its  cleistogamous  or  blind  flowers 
alone  for  offspring;  and  in  the  sixty  or  more  genera  containing 
these  curious  growths,  that  usually  look  like  buds  arrested  in  de- 
velopment, every  plant  that  bears  them  bears  also  showy  flowers 
dependent  upon  cross-pollination  by  insect  aid. 
The  boy  who 

"  Drives  home  the  cows  from  the  pasture 
Up  through  the  long  shady  lane  " 

knows  how  reluctantly  they  leave  the  feast  afforded  by  the  wild 
peanut.  Hogs,  rooting  about  in  the  moist  soil  where  it  grows, 
unearth  the  hairy  pods  that  should  produce  next  year's  vines; 
hence  the  poor  excuse  for  branding  a  charming  plant  with  a 
repellent  folk-name. 

Violets 

(Viola)  Violet  family 

Lacking  perfume  only  to  be  a  perfectly  satisfying  flower, 
the  Common,  Purple,  Meadow,  or  Hooded  Blue  Violet  (K.  obli- 
qua) — the  K.  cucullata  of  Gray — has  nevertheless  established  it- 
self in  the  hearts  of  the  people  from  the  Arctic  to  the  Gulf  as  no 
sweet-scented,  showy,  hothouse  exotic  has  ever  done.  Royal 
in  color  as  in  lavish  profusion,  it  blossoms  everywhere — in  woods, 
waysides,  meadows,  and  marshes,  but  always  in  finer  form  in 
cool,  shady  dells;  with  longer  flowering  scapes  in  meadow  bogs; 

28 


VIPER'S    BUGLOSS,    OR    BLUEWEED 
(Eckium  -vulgare) 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

and  with  longer  leaves  than  wide  in  swampy  woodlands.  The 
heart-shaped,  saw-edged  leaves,  folded  toward  the  centre  when 
newly  put  forth,  and  the  five-petalled,  bluish-purple,  golden- 
hearted  blossom  are  too  familiar  for  more  detailed  description. 
From  the  three-cornered  stars  of  the  elastic  capsules,  the  seeds  are 
scattered  abroad.  (Illustration,  p.  16.) 

Beards  on  the  spurred  lower  petal  and  the  two  side  petals 
give  the  bees  a  foothold  when  they  turn  head  downward,  as 
some  must,  to  suck  nectar.  This  attitude  enables  them  to 
receive  the  pollen  dusted  on  their  abdomens,  when  they  jar 
the  flower,  at  a  point  nearest  their  pollen-collecting  hairs.  It  is 
also  an  economical  advantage  to  the  flower  which  can  sift  the 
pollen  downward  on  the  bee  instead  of  exposing  it  to  the 
pollen-eating  interlopers.  Among  the  latter  may  be  classed  the 
humblebees  and  butterflies  whose  long  lips  and  tongues  pilfer 
ad  libitum.  "  For  the  proper  visitors  of  the  bearded  violets,"  says 
Professor  Robertson,  "we  must  look  to  the  small  bees,  among 
which  the  Osmias  are  the  most  important." 

When  science  was  younger  and  hair  splitting  an  uncom- 
mon indulgence  of  botanists,  the  Early  Blue  Violet  (Viola  pal- 
matd)  was  thought  to  be  simply  a  variety  of  the  common  purple 
violet,  whose  heart-shaped  leaves  frequently  show  a  tendency  to 
divide  into  lobes.  But  the  early  blue  violet,  however  roundish  or 
heart-shaped  its  early  leaves  may  be,  has  the  later  ones  variously 
divided  into  from  three  to  thirteen  lobes,  often  almost  as  much 
cut  on  the  sides  as  the  leaves  of  the  bird's-foot  violet.  In  dry 
soil,  chiefly  in  the  woods,  this  violet  may  be  found  from  Southern 
Canada  westward  to  Minnesota,  and  south  to  northern  boundaries 
of  the  Gulf  States.  Only  its  side  petals  are  bearded  to  form  foot- 
rests  for  the  insects  that  search  for  the  deeply  secreted  nectar. 
Many  butterflies  visit  this  flower.  On  entering  it  a  bee  must  first 
touch  the  stigma  before  any  fresh  golden  pollen  is  released  from 
the  anther  cone,  and  cross-fertilization  naturally  results. 

In  shale  and  sandy  soil,  even  in  the  gravel  of  hillsides,  one 
finds  the  narrowly  divided,  finely  cut  leaves  and  the  bicolored 
beardless  blossom  of  the  Bird's-foot  Violet  (K.  pedata),  pale  bluish 
purple  on  the  lower  petals,  dark  purple  on  one  or  two  upper  ones, 
and  with  a  heart  of  gold.  The  large,  velvety,  pansy-like  blossom 
and  the  unusual  foliage  which  rises  in  rather  dense  tufts  are  suffi- 
cient to  distinguish  the  plant  from  its  numerous  kin.  This  spe- 
cies produces  no  cleistogamous  or  blind  flowers.  Frequently  the 
bird's-foot  violet  blooms  a  second  time,  in  autumn,  a  delightful 
eccentricity  of  this  family.  The  spur  of  its  lower  petal  is  long 
and  very  slender,  and,  as  might  be  expected,  the  longest-tongued 
bees  and  butterflies  are  its  most  frequent  visitors.  These  receive 
the  pollen  on  the  base  of  the  proboscis. 

29 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

The  Woolly  Blue  Violet  (K  sorona),  whose  stems  and 
younger  leaves,  at  least,  are  covered  with  hairs,  and  whose  pur- 
plish-blue flowers  are  more  or  less  bearded  within,  prefers  a  shady 
but  dry  situation ;  whereas  its  next  of  kin,  the  Arrow-leaved  Violet 
(K.  sagittata),  delights  in  moist  but  open  meadows  and  marshes. 
The  latter's  long,  arrow,  or  halbert-shaped  leaves,  usually  entire 
above  the  middle,  but  slightly  lobed  below  it,  may  rear  themselves 
nine  inches  high  in  favorable  soil,  or  in  dry  uplands  perhaps  only 
two  inches.  The  flowering  scapes  grow  as  tall  as  the  leaves.  All 
but  the  lower  petal  of  the  large,  deep,  dark,  purplish-blue  flower 
are  bearded.  This  species  produces  an  abundance  of  late  cleis- 
togamous  flowers  on  erect  stems.  These  peculiar  greenish 
flowers  without  petals,  that  are  so  often  mistaken  for  buds  or  seed 
vessels;  that  never  open,  but  without  insect  aid  ripen  quantities  of 
fertile  seed,  are  usually  borne,  if  not  actually  under  ground,  then 
not  far  above  it,  on  nearly  all  violet  plants.  It  will  be  observed 
that  all  species  which  bear  blind  flowers  rely  somewhat  on  showy, 
cross-fertilized  blossoms  also  to  counteract  degeneracy  from  close 
inbreeding. 

The  Ovate-leaved  Violet  (K.  ovata),  formerly  reckoned  as  a 
mere  variety  of  the  former  species,  is  now  accorded  a  distinct  rank. 
Not  all  the  blossoms,  but  an  occasional  clump,  has  a  faint  perfume 
like  sweet  clover.  The  leaf  is  elongated,  but  rather  too  round 
to  be  halbert-shaped  ;  the  stems  are  hairy  ;  and  the  flowers,  which 
closely  resemble  those  of  the  arrow-leaved  violet,  are  earlier ; 
making  these  two  species,  which  are  popularly  mistaken  for  one, 
among  the  earliest  and  commonest  of  their  clan.  The  dry  soil  of 
upland  woods  and  thickets  is  the  ovate-leaved  violet's  preferred 
habitat. 

In  course  of  time  the  lovely  English,  March,  or  Sweet  Violet, 
(K.  odorata),  which  has  escaped  from  gardens,  and  which  is  now 
rapidly  increasing  with  the  help  of  seed  and  runners  on  the  Atlantic 
and  the  Pacific  coasts,  may  be  established  among  our  wild  flowers. 
No  blossom  figures  so  prominently  in  European  literature.  In 
France,  it  has  even  entered  the  political  field  since  Napoleon's  day. 
Yale  University  has  adopted  the  violet  for  its  own  especial  flower, 
although  it  is  the  corn-flower,  or  bachelor's  button  (Centaurea 
cyanus)  that  is  the  true  Yale  blue.  Sprengel,  who  made  a  most 
elaborate  study  of  the  violet,  condensed  the  result  of  his  research 
into  the  following  questions  and  answers,  which  are  given  here 
because  much  that  he  says  applies  to  our  own  native  species, 
which  have  been  too  little  studied  in  the  modern  scientific  spirit : 

"i.  Why  is  the  flower  situated  on  a  long  stalk  which  is  up- 
right, but  curved  downwards  at  the  free  end  ?  In  order  that  it 
may  hang  down  ;  which,  firstly,  prevents  rain  from  obtaining 

30 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

access  to  the  nectar;  and,  secondly,  places  the  stamens  in  such  a 
position  that  the  pollen  falls  into  the  open  space  between  the 
pistil  and  the  free  ends  of  the  stamens.  If  the  flower  were  up- 
right, the  pollen  would  fall  into  the  space  between  the  base  of 
the  stamen  and  the  base  of  the  pistil,  and  would  not  come  in 
contact  with  the  bee. 

"2.  Why  does  the  pollen  differ  from  that  of  most  other 
insect-fertilized  flowers  ?  In  most  of  such  flowers  the  insects 
themselves  remove  the  pollen  from  the  anthers,  and  it  is  therefore 
important  that  the  pollen  should  not  easily  be  detached  and  carried 
away  by  the  wind.  In  the  present  case,  on  the  contrary,  it  is 
desirable  that  it  should  be  looser  and  dryer,  so  that  it  may  easily 
fall  into  the  space  between  the  stamens  and  the  pistil.  If  it  re- 
mained attached  to  the  anther,  it  would  not  be  touched  by  the 
bee,  and  the  flower  would  remain  unfertilized. 

"3.  Why  is  the  base  of  the  style  so  thin  ?  In  order  that  the 
bee  may  be  more  easily  able  to  bend  the  style. 

"4.  Why  is  the  base  of  the  style  bent  ?  For  the  same  reason. 
The  result  of  the  curvature  is  that  the  pistil  is  much  more  easily 
bent  than  would  be  the  case  if  the  style  were  straight. 

"  5.  Finally,  why  does  the  membranous  termination  of  the 
upper  filament  overlap  the  corresponding  portions  of  the  two 
middle  stamens  ?  Because  this  enables  the  bee  to  move  the  pistil, 
and  thereby  to  set  free  the  pollen  more  easily  than  would  be  the 
case  under  the  reverse  arrangement." 

In  high  altitudes  of  New  England,  Colorado,  and  northward, 
where  the  soil  is  wet  and  cold,  the  pale  lilac,  slightly  bearded  petals, 
streaked  with  darker  veins,  of  the  Marsh  Violet  (K.  palustris), 
with  its  almost  round  leaves,  may  be  found  from  May  to  June. 
All  through  the  White  Mountains  one  finds  it  abundant. 

A  peculiarity  of  the  Dog  or  Running  Violet  (K  Labradorica) 
is  that  its  small,  heart-shaped  leaves  are  set  along  the  branching 
stem,  and  its  pale  purple  blossoms  rise  from  their  angles,  pansy 
fashion.  From  March  to  May  it  blooms  throughout  its  wide  range 
in  wet,  shady  places.  Its  English  prototype,  called  by  the  same 
invidious  name,  was  given  the  prefix  "dog,"  because  the  word, 
which  is  always  intended  to  express  contempt  in  the  British  mind, 
is  applied  in  this  case  for  the  flower's  lack  of  fragrance.  When  a 
bee  visits  this  violet,  his  head  coming  in  contact  with  the  stigma 
jars  it,  thus  opening  the  little  pollen  box,  whose  contents  must 
fall  put  on  his  head  and  be  carried  away  and  rubbed  off  where 
it  will  fertilize  the  next  violet  visited. 


From  Blue  to  Purple 


Lavender;    Marsh     Rosemary;    Canker- 
root  ;    Ink-root 

(Limonium  Carolinianum)  Plumbago  family 
(Statice  Limonium  of  Gray) 

Flowers  —  Very  tiny,  pale,  dull  lavender,  erect,  set  along  upper  side 
of  branches.  Calyx  5-toothed,  tubular,  plaited  ;  corolla  of  5 
petals  opposite  as  many  stamens;  i  pistil  with  5  thread-like 
styles.  Scape:  \  to  2  ft.  high,  slender,  leafless,  much  branched 
above.  Leaves:  All  from  thick,  fleshy  rootstock,  narrowly 
oblong,  tapering  into  margined  petioles,  thick,  the  edges 
slightly  waved,  not  toothed;  midrib  prominent. 

Preferred  Habitat  —  Salt  meadows  and  marshes. 

Flowering  Season  —  July  —  October. 

Distribution  —  Atlantic  coast  from  Labrador  to  Florida,  westward 
along  the  Gulf  to  Texas;  also  in  Europe. 

Seen  in  masses,  from  a  little  distance,  this  tiny  flower  looks 
like  blue-gray  mist  blown  in  over  the  meadows  from  sea,  and  on 
closer  view  each  plant  suggests  sea-spray  itself.  Thrifty  house- 
wives along  the  coast  dry  it  for  winter  bouquets,  partly  for  orna- 
ment and  partly  because  there  is  an  old  wives'  tradition  that  it 
keeps  away  moths.  Statice,  from  the  Greek  verb  to  stop,  hence 
an  astringent,  was  the  generic  name  formerly  applied  to  the 
plants,  with  whose  roots  these  same  old  women  believed  they 
cured  canker  sores. 


Fringed   Gentian 

(Gentiana  crinita)  Gentian  family 

Flowers — Deep,  bright  blue,  rarely  white,  several  or  many,  about 
2  in.  high,  stiffly  erect,  and  solitary  at  ends  of  very  long  foot- 
stalk. Calyx  of  4  unequal,  acutely  pointed  lobes.  Corolla 
funnel  form,  its  four  lobes  spreading,  rounded,  fringed 
around  ends,  but  scarcely  on  sides.  Four  stamens  inserted 
on  corolla  tube  ;  i  pistil  with  2  stigmas.  Stem :  i  to  3  ft. 
high,  usually  branched,  leafy.  Leaves  :  Opposite,  upper 
ones  acute  at  tip,  broadening  to  heart-shaped  base,  seated 
on  stem.  Fruit:  A  spindle-shaped,  3-valved  capsule,  con- 
taining numerous  scaly,  hairy  seeds. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Low,  moist  meadows  and  woods. 

Flowering  Season — September — November. 

Distribution — Quebec,  southward  to  Georgia,  and  westward  be- 
yond the  Mississippi. 

32 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

"  Thou  waitest  late,  and  com'st  alone 

When  woods  are  bare  and  birds  have  flown, 
And  frosts  and  shortening  days  portend 
The  aged  year  is  near  his  end. 

"  Then  doth  thy  sweet  and  quiet  eye 
Look  through  its  fringes  to  the  sky, 
Blue— blue— as  if  that  sky  let  fall 
A  flower  from  its  cerulean  wall." 

When  we  come  upon  a  bed  of  gentians  on  some  sparkling 
October  day,  we  can  but  repeat  Bryant's  thoughts  and  express 
them  prosaically  who  attempt  description.  In  dark  weather  this 
sunshine  lover  remains  shut,  to  protect  its  nectar  and  pollen  from 
possible  showers.  An  elusive  plant  is  this  gentian,  which  by  no 
means  always  reappears  in  the  same  places  year  after  year,  for 
it  is  an  annual  whose  seeds  alone  perpetuate  it.  Seating  them- 
selves on  the  winds  when  autumn  gales  shake  them  from  out  the 
home  wall,  these  little  hairy  scales  ride  afar,  and  those  that  are  so 
fortunate  as  to  strike  into  soft,  moist  soil  at  the  end  of  the  journey, 
germinate.  Because  this  flower  is  so  rarely  beautiful  that  few  can 
resist  the  temptation  of  picking  it,  it  is  becoming  sadly  rare  near 
large  settlements. 

The  special  importance  of  producing  a  quantity  of  fertile  seed 
has  led  the  gentians  to  adopt  proterandry — one  of  the  commonest, 
because  most  successful,  methods  of  insuring  it.  The  anthers, 
coming  to  maturity  early,  shed  their  pollen  on  the  bumblebees 
that  have  been  first  attracted  by  their  favorite  color  and  the  entic- 
ing fringes  before  they  crawl  half  way  down  the  tube  where  they 
can  reach  the  nectar  secreted  in  the  walls.  After  the  pollen  has 
been  carried  from  the  early  flowers,  and  the  stamens  begin  to 
wither,  up  rises  the  pistil  to  be  fertilized  with  pollen  brought  from 
a  newly  opened  blossom  by  the  bee  or  butterfly.  The  late  de- 
velopment of  the  pistil  accounts  for  the  error  often  stated,  that 
some  gentians  have  none.  No  doubt  the  fringe,  which  most 
scientists  regard  simply  as  an  additional  attraction  for  winged 
insects,  serves  a  double  purpose  in  entangling  the  feet  of  ants  and 
other  crawlers  that  would  climb  over  the  edge  to  pilfer  sweets 
clearly  intended  for  the  bumblebee  alone. 

Fifteen  species  of  gentian  have  been  gathered  during  a  half- 
hour  walk  in  Switzerland,  where  the  pastures  are  spread  with 
sheets  of  blue.  Indeed,  one  can  little  realize  the  beauty  of  these 
heavenly  flowers  who  has  not  seen  them  among  the  Alps. 

The  Five-flowered  or  Stiff  Gentian,  or  Ague-weed  (Gentiana 
quinquefolia) — G.  quinqueflora  of  Gray — has  its  n>e-parted, 
small,  picotee-edged  blue  flowers  arranged  in  clusters,  not  exceed- 
ing seven,  at  the  ends  of  the  branches  or  seated  in  the  leaf-axils. 
The  slender,  branching,  ridged  stem  may  rise  only  two  inches  in 
dry  soil;  or  perhaps  two  feet  in  rich,  moist,  rocky  ground,  where 

3  33 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

it  grows  to  perfection,  especially  in  mountainous  regions.  From 
Canada  to  Florida  and  westward  to  Missouri  is  its  range,  and  be- 
ginning to  bloom  in  August  southward,  it  may  not  be  found  until 
September  in  the  Catskills,  and  in  October  it  is  still  in  its  glory  in 
Ontario.  The  colorless,  bitter  juice  of  many  of  the  gentian  tribe 
has  long  been  valued  as  a  tonic  in  medicine.  Evidently  the  but- 
terflies that  pilfer  this  "  ague-weed,"  and  the  bees  that  are  its 
legitimate  feasters,  find  something  more  delectable  in  its  blue  walls. 

A  deep,  intense  blue  is  the  Closed,  Blind,  or  Bottle  Gentian 
(G.  Andrewsii),  more  truly  the  color  of  the  "male  bluebird's 
back,"  to  which  Thoreau  likened  the  paler  fringed  gentian. 
Rarely  some  degenerate  plant  bears  white  flowers.  As  it  is  a 
perennial,  we  are  likely  to  find  it  in  its  old  haunts  year  after  year  ; 
nevertheless  its  winged  seeds  sail  far  abroad  to  seek  pastures 
new.  This  gentian  also  shows  a  preference  for  moist  soil. 
Gray  thought  that  it  expanded  slightly,  and  for  a  short  time  only 
in  sunshine,  but  added  that,  although  it  is  proterandrous,  i.e.  it 
matures  and  sheds  its  pollen  before  its  stigma  is  susceptible  to 
any,  he  believed  it  finally  fertilized  itself  by  the  lobes  of  the 
stigma  curling  backward  until  they  touched  the  anthers.  But 
Gray  was  doubtless  mistaken.  Several  authorities  have  recently 
proved  that  the  flower  is  adapted  to  bumblebees.  It  offers  them 
the  last  feast  of  the  season,  for  although  it  comes  into  bloom  in 
August  southward,  farther  northward — and  it  extends  from 
Quebec  to  the  Northwest  Territory — it  lasts  through  October. 

Now,  how  can  a  bumblebee  enter  this  inhospitable-looking 
flower  ?  If  he  did  but  know  it,  it  keeps  closed  for  his  special 
benefit,  having  no  fringes  or  hairs  to  entangle  the  feet  of  crawling 
pilferers,  and  no  better  way  of  protecting  its  nectar  from  rain  and 
marauding  butterflies  that  are  not  adapted  to  its  needs.  But  he  is 
a  powerful  fellow.  Watch  him  aljght  on  a  cluster  of  blossoms, 
select  the  younger,  nectar-bearing  ones,  that  are  distinctly  marked 
white  against  a  light-blue  background  at  the  mouth  of  the  corolla 
for  his  special  guidance.  Old  flowers  from  which  the  nectar 
has  been  removed  turn  deep  reddish  purple,  and  the  white  path- 
finders become  indistinct.  With  some  difficulty,  it  is  true,  the 
bumblebee  (B.  Americanorum)  thrusts  his  tongue  through  the 
valve  of  the  chosen  flower  where  the  five  plaited  lobes  over-lap- 
one  another;  then  he  pushes  with  all  his  might  until  his  head  hav- 
ing passed  the  entrance  most  of  his  body  follows,  leaving  only  his 
hind  legs  and  the  tip  of  his  abdomen  sticking  out  as  he  makes  the 
circuit.  He  has  much  sense  as  well  as  muscle,  and  does  not  risk 
imprisonment  in  what  must  prove  a  tomb  by  a  total  and  unneces- 
sary disappearance  within  the  bottle.  Presently  he  backs  out, 
brushes  the  pollen  from  his  head  and  thorax  into  his  baskets,  and 
is  off  to  fertilize  an  older,  stigmatic  flower  with  the  few  grains  of 
quickening  dust  that  must  remain  on  his  velvety  head. 

34 


From  Blue  to  Purple 


Wild  Blue  Phlox 

(Phlox  divaricata)  Phlox  family 

flowers — Pale  lilac  blue,  slightly  fragrant,  borne  on  sticky  pedicels, 
in  loose,  spreading  clusters.  Calyx  with  5  long,  sharp  teeth. 
Corolla  ot  5  flat  lobes,  indented  like  the  top  of  a  heart,  and 
united  into  a  slender  tube  ;  5  unequal,  straight,  short  stamens 
in  corolla  tube  ;  i  pistil  with  3  stigmas.  Stem :  i  to  2  ft. 
high,  finely  coated  with  sticky  hairs  above,  erect  or  spread- 
ing, and  producing  leafy  shoots  from  base.  Leaves :  Of  flower- 
ing stem — opposite,  oblong,  tapering  to  a  point ;  of  sterile 
shoots — oblong  or  egg-shaped,  not  pointed,  i  to  2  in.  long. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Moist,  rocky  woods. 

Flowering  Season — April — June. 

Distribution — Eastern  Canada  to  Florida,  Minnesota  to  Arkansas. 

The  merest  novice  can  have  no  difficulty  in  naming  the 
flower  whose  wild  and  cultivated  relations  abound  throughout 
North  America,  the  almost  exclusive  home  of  the  genus,  although 
it  is  to  European  horticulturists,  as  usual  the  first  to  see  the  pos- 
sibilities in  our  native  flowers,  that  we  owe  the  gay  hybrids  in 
our  gardens.  Mr.  Drummond,  a  collector  from  the  Botanical 
Society  of  Glasgow,  early  in  the  thirties  sent  home  the  seeds  of 
a  species  from  Texas,  which  became  the  ancestor  of  the  gorgeous 
annuals,  the  Drummond  phloxes  ofcommerce  to-day ;  and  although 
he  died  of  fever  in  Cuba  before  the  plants  became  generally  known, 
not  even  his  kinsman,  the  author  of  "  Natural  La  win  the  Spiritual 
World,"  has  done  more  to  immortalize  the  family  name. 

While  the  wild  blue  phlox  is  sometimes  cultivated,  it  is  the 
Garden  Phlox  (P.  paniculata),  common  in  woods  and  thickets 
from  Pennsylvania  to  Illinois  and  southward,  that  under  a  gardener's 
care  bears  the  large  terminal  clusters  of  purple,  magenta,  crimson, 
pink,  and  white  flowers  abundant  in  old-fashioned,  hardy  borders. 
From  these  it  has  escaped  so  freely  in  many  sections  of  the  North 
and  East  as  to  be  counted  among  the  local  wild  flowers.  Unless 
the  young  offshoots  are  separated  from  the  parent  and  given  a  nook 
of  their  own,  the  flower  quickly  reverts  to  the  original  type.  Euro- 
pean cultivators  claim  that  the  most  brilliant  colors  are  obtained 
by  crossing  annual  with  perennial  phloxes. 

Wild  Sweet  William  (P.  maculata),  another  perennial  much 
sought  by  cultivators,  loves  the  moisture  of  low  woods  and  the 
neighborhood  of  streams  in  the  Middle  and  Western  States  when 
it  is  free  to  choose  its  habitat ;  but  it,  too,  has  so  freely  escaped 
from  gardens  farther  north  into  dry  and  dusty  roadsides,  that  any 

3S 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

one  who  has  passed  the  ruins  of  Hawthorne's  little  red  cottage  at 
Lenox,  for  example,  and  seen  the  way  his  wife's  clump  of  white 
phlox  under  his  study  window  has  spread  to  cover  an  acre  of 
hillside,  would  suppose  it  to  be  luxuriating  in  its  favorite  locality. 
This  variety  of  the  species  (van  Candida}  lacks  the  purplish  flecks 
on  stem  and  lower  leaves  responsible  for  the  specific  name  of 
the  type.  Pinkish  purple  or  pink  blossoms  are  borne  in  a  rather 
narrow,  elongated  panicle  on  the  typical  Sweet  William. 

Most  members  of  the  phlox  family  resort  to  the  trick  of  coat- 
ing the  upper  stem  and  the  peduncles  immediately  below  the 
flowers  with  a  sticky  secretion  in  which  crawling  insects,  intent 
on  pilfering  sweets,  meet  their  death,  just  as  birds  are  caught  on 
limed  twigs.  Butterflies,  for  whom  phloxes  have  narrowed  their 
tubes  to  the  exclusion  of  most  other  insects,  are  their  benefactors; 
but  long-tongued  bees  and  flies  often  seek  their  nectar.  Indeed, 
the  number  of  strictly  butterfly-flowers  is  surprisingly  small. 


Virginia  Cowslip  ;  Tree  or  Smooth  Lungwort; 
Blue-bells 

(Mertensia   Virginica)  Borage  family 

Flowers — Pinkish  in  bud,  afterward  purplish  blue,  fading  to  light 
blue  ;  about  i  in.  long,  tubular,  funnel  form,  the  tube  of 
corolla  not  crested ;  spreading  or  hanging  on  slender  pedicels 
in  showy,  loose  clusters  at  end  of  smooth  stem  from  i  to  2  ft. 
high;  stamens  5,  inserted  on  corolla;  i  pistil;  ovary  of  4 
divisions.  Leaves :  Large,  entire,  alternate,  veiny,  oblong  or 
obovate,  the  upper  ones  seated  on  stem  ;  lower  very  large 
ones  diminishing  toward  base  into  long  petioles;  at  first  rich, 
dark  purple,  afterward  pale  bluish  gray.  Fruit:  4  seed-like 
little  nuts,  leathery,  wrinkled  when  mature. 

Preferred  Habitat — Alluvial  ground,  low  meadows,  and  along 
streams. 

Flowering  Season — March — May. 

Distribution — Southern  Canada  to  South  Carolina  and  Kansas, 
west  to  Nebraska;  most  abundant  in  middle  West. 

Not  to  be  outdone  by  its  cousins  the  heliotrope  and  the 
forget-me-not,  this  lovely  and  far  more  showy  spring  flower  has 
found  its  way  into  the  rockwork  and  sheltered,  moist  nooks  of 
many  gardens,  especially  in  England,  where  Mr.  W.  Robinson, 
who  has  appealed  for  its  wider  cultivation  in  that  perennially 
charming  book,  "The  English  Flower  Garden,"  says  of  the 
Mertensias  :  "There  is  something  about  them  more  beautiful  in 
form  of  foliage  and  stem,  and  in  the  graceful  way  in  which  they 
rise  to  panicles  of  blue,  than  in  almost  any  other  family.  .  .  ". 

36 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

Handsomest  of  all  is  the  Virginia  cowslip."  And  yet  Robinson 
never  saw  the  alluvial  meadows  in  the  Ohio  Valley  blued  with 
lovely  masses  of  the  plant  in  April. 

A  great  variety  of  insects  visit  this  blossom,  which,  being 
tubular,  conducts  them  straight  to  the  ample  feast  ;  but  not  until 
they  have  deposited  some  pollen  brought  from  another  flower  on 
the  stigma  in  their  way.  The  anthers  are  too  widely  separated 
from  the  stigma  to  make  self-fertilization  likely.  Occasionally 
one  finds  the  cowslips  perforated  by  clever  bumblebees.  As 
only  the  females,  which  are  able  to  sip  far  deeper  cups,  are  flying 
when  they  bloom,  they  must  be  either  too  mischievous  or  too 
lazy  to  drain  them  in  the  legitimate  manner.  Butterflies  have 
only  to  stand  on  a  flower,  not  to  enter  it,  in  order  to  sip  nectar 
from  the  four  glands  that  secrete  it  abundantly. 


Forget-me-not;   Mouse-ear;  Scorpion  Grass; 
Snake  Grass;   Love  Me 

(Myosotis  palustris)   Borage  family 

Flowers— Pure  blue,  pinkish,  or  white,  with  yellow  eye ;  flat,  5- 
lobed,  borne  in  many-flowered,  long,  often  i -sided  racemes. 
Calyx  5-cleft  ;  the  lobes  narrow,  spreading,  erect,  and  open 
in  fruit ;  5  stamens  inserted  on  corolla  tube  ;  style  thread- 
like ;  ovary  4-celled.  Stem:  Low,  branching,  leafy,  slender, 
hairy,  partially  reclining.  Leaves :  (Myosotis  =  mouse-ear) 
oblong,  alternate,  seated  on  stem,  hairy.  Fruit:  Nutlets, 
angled  and  keeled  on  inner  side. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Escaped  from  gardens  to  brooksides,  marshes, 
and  low  meadows. 

Flowering  Season — May — July. 

Distribution — Native  of  Europe  and  Asia,  now  rapidly  spreading 
from  Nova  Scotia  southward  to  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
and  beyond. 

How  rare  a  color  blue  must  have  been  originally  among  our 
flora  is  evident  from  the  majority  of  blue  and  purple  flowers 
that,  although  now  abundant  here  and  so  perfectly  at  home,  are 
really  quite  recent  immigrants  from  Europe  and  Asia.  But  our 
dryer,  hotter  climate  never  brings  to  the  perfection  attained  in 
England 

'  The  sweet  forget-me-nots 
That  grow  for  happy  lovers." 

Tennyson  thus  ignores  the  melancholy  association  of  the 
flower  in  the  popular  legend  which  tells  how  a  lover,  when  trying 

37 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

to  gather  some  of  these  blossoms  for  his  sweetheart,  fell  into  a  deep 
pool,  and  threw  a  bunch  on  the  bank,  calling  out,  as  he  sank  for- 
ever from  her  sight,  "Forget  me  not."  Another  dismal  myth 
sends  its  hero  forth  seeking  hidden  treasure  caves  in  a  mountain, 
under  the  guidance  of  a  fairy.  He  fills  his  pockets  with  gold, 
but  not  heeding  the  fairy's  warning  to  "  forget  not  the  best " — i.e., 
the  myosotis — he  is  crushed  by  the  closing  together  of  the  moun- 
tain. Happiest  of  all  is  the  folk-tale  of  the  Persians,  as  told  by 
their  poet  Shiraz  :  "  It  was  in  the  golden  morning  of  the  early 
world,  when  an  angel  sat  weeping  outside  the  closed  gates  of 
Paradise.  He  had  fallen  from  his  high  estate  through  loving  a 
daughter  of  earth,  nor  was  he  permitted  to  enter  again  until  she 
whom  he  loved  had  planted  the  flowers  of  the  forget-me-not  in 
every  corner  of  the  world.  He  returned  to  earth  and  assisted  her, 
and  together  they  went  hand  in  hand.  When  their  task  was  ended, 
they  entered  Paradise  together,  for  the  fair  woman,  without  tasting 
the  bitterness  of  death,  became  immortal  like  the  angel  whose  love 
her  beauty  had  won  when  she  sat  by  the  river  twining  forget-me- 
nots  in  her  hair." 

It  was  the  golden  ring  around  the  forget-me-not's  centre  that 
first  led  Sprengel  to  believe  the  conspicuous  markings  at  the  en- 
trance of  many  flowers  served  as  pathfinders  to  insects.  This 
golden  circle  also  shelters  the  nectar  from  rain,  and  indicates  to 
the  fly  or  bee  just  where  it  must  probe  between  stigma  and 
anthers  to  touch  them  with  opposite  sides  of  its  tongue.  Since 
it  may  probe  from  any  point  of  the  circle,  it  is  quite  likely  that 
the  side  of  the  tongue  that  touched  a  pollen-laden  anther  in  one 
flower  will  touch  the  stigma  in  the  next  one  visited,  and  so  cross- 
fertilize  it.  But  forget-me-nots  are  not  wholly  dependent  on  in- 
sects. When  these  fail,  a  fully  mature  flower  is  still  able  to  set 
fertile  seed  by  shedding  its  own  pollen  directly  on  the  stigma. 

The  Smaller  Forget-me-not  (M.  laxa),  formerly  accounted  a 
mere  variety  of  palustris,  but  now  defined  as  a  distinct  species, 
is  a  native,  and  therefore  may  serve  to  show  how  its  European 
relative  here  will  deteriorate  in  the  dryer  atmosphere  of  the  New 
World.  Its  tiny  turquoise  flowers,  borne  on  long  stems  from  a 
very  loose  raceme,  gleam  above  wet,  muddy  places  from  New- 
foundland and  Eastern  Canada  to  Virginia  and  Tennessee. 

Even  smaller  still  are  the  blue  or  white  flowers  of  the  Field 
Forget-me-not,  Scorpion  Grass,  or  Mouse-ear  (M.  arvenis), 
whose  stems  and  leaves  are  covered  with  bristly  hairs.  It  blooms 
from  August  to  July  in  dry  places,  even  on  hillsides,  an  unusual 
locality  in  which  to  find  a  member  of  this  moisture-loving  clan. 
All  the  flowers  remain  long  in  bloom,  continually  forming  new 
buds  on  a  lengthening  stem,  and  leaving  behind  little  empty  green 
calices. 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

Viper's   Bugloss;   Blue-weed;  Viper's  Herb  or 
Grass;  Snake-flower;  Blue-thistle 

(Echium  milgare)  Borage  family 

Flowers — Bright  blue,  afterward  reddish  purple,  pink  in  the  bud, 
numerous,  clustered  on  short,  ! -sided,  curved  spikes  rolled 
up  at  first,  and  straightening  out  as  flowers  expand.  Calyx 
deeply  5-cleft ;  corolla  i  in.  long  or  less,  funnel  form,  the  5 
lobes  unequal,  acute;  5  stamens  inserted  on  corolla  tube, 
the  filaments  spreading  below,  and  united  above  into  slen- 
der appendage,  the  anthers  forming  a  cone,  i  pistil  with 
2  stigmas.  Stem:  i  to  2^/2  ft.  high  ;  bristly-hairy,  erect, 
spotted.  Leaves:  Hairy,  rough,  oblong  to  lance-shaped, 
alternate,  seated  on  stem,  except  at  base  of  plant. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Dry  fields,  waste  places,  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — June — j uly. 

Distribution — New  Brunswick  to  Virginia,  westward  to  Nebraska; 
Europe  and  Asia. 

In  England,  from  whose  gardens  this  plant  escaped  long  ago, 
a  war  of  extermination  that  has  been  waged  against  the  vigorous, 
beautiful  weed  by  the  farmers  has  at  last  driven  it  to  the  extrem- 
ity of  the  island,  where  a  few  stragglers  about  Penzance  testify  to 
the  vanquishing  of  what  must  once  have  been  a  mighty  army. 
From  England  a  few  refugees  reached  here  in  1683,  no  one  knows 
how;  but  they  proved  to  be  the  vanguard  of  an  aggressive  and 
victorious  host  that  quickly  overran  our  open,  hospitable  country, 
as  if  to  give  vent  to  revenge  for  long  years  of  persecution  at  the 
hands  of  Europeans.  "  It  is  a  fact  that  all  pur  more  pernicious 
weeds,  like  our  vermin,  are  of  Old-World  origin,"  says  John  Bur- 
roughs. ".  .  .  Perhaps  the  most  notable  thing  about  them, 
when  compared  with  our  native  species,  is  their  persistence,  not 
to  say  pugnacity.  They  fight  for  the  soil;  they  plant  colonies  here 
and  there,  and  will  not  be  rooted  out.  Our  native  weeds  are  for  the 
most  part  shy  and  harmless,  and  retreat  before  civilization.  .  . 
We  have  hardly  a  weed  we  can  call  our  own." 

Years  ago,  when  simple  folk  believed  God  had  marked  plants 
with  some  sign  to  indicate  the  special  use  for  which  each  was 
intended,  they  regarded  the  spotted  stem  of  the  bugloss,  and  its 
seeds  shaped  like  a  serpent's  head,  as  certain  indications  that  the 
herb  would  cure  snake  bites.  Indeed,  the  genus  takes  its  name 
from  Echis,  the  Greek  for  viper. 

Because  it  is  showy  and  offers  accessible  nectar,  a  great  va- 
riety of  insects  visit  the  blue-weed;  Muller  alone  observed  sixty- 
seven  species  about  it.  We  need  no  longer  wonder  at  its  fertil- 
ity. Of  the  five  stamens  one  remains  in  the  tube,  while  the 

39 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

other  four  project  and  form  a  convenient  alighting  place  for 
visitors,  which  necessarily  dust  their  under  sides  with  pollen  as 
they  enter;  for  the  red  anthers  were  already  ripe  when  the  flower 
opened.  Then,  however,  the  short,  immature  pistil  was  kept 
below.  After  the  stamens  have  shed  their  pollen  and  there  can  be 
no  longer  danger  of  self-fertilization,  it  gradually  elongates  itself 
beyond  the  point  occupied  by  them,  and  divides  into  two  little 
horns  whose  stigmatic  surfaces  an  incoming  pollen-laden  insect 
cannot  well  fail  to  strike  against.  Cross-pollination  is  so  thoroughly 
secured  in  this  case  that  the  plant  has  completely  lost  the  power 
of  fertilizing  itself.  Unwelcome  visitors  like  ants,  which  would 
pilfer  nectar  without  rendering  any  useful  service  in  return,  are 
warded  off  by  the  bristly,  hairy  foliage.  Several  kinds  of  female 
bees  seek  the  bugloss  exclusively  for  food  for  their  larvse  as  well 
as  for  themselves,  sweeping  up  the  abundant  pollen  with  their 
abdominal  brushes  as  they  feast  without  effort. 


Blue  Vervain;   Wild   Hyssop;    Simpler's  Joy 

(Verbena  hastata)  Vervain  family 

Flowers — Very  small,  purplish  blue,  in  numerous  slender,  erect, 
compact  spikes.  Calyx  5-toothed  ;  corolla  tubular,  unequally 
5-lobed  ;  2  pairs  of  stamens  ;  i  pistil.  Stem:  3  to  7  ft.  high, 
rough,  branched  above,  leafy,  4-sided.  Leaves:  Opposite, 
stemmed,  lance-shaped,  saw-edged,  rough  ;  lower  ones  lobed 
at  base. 

Preferred  ffa&tiat—Moist  meadows,  roadsides,  waste  places. 

Flowering  Season — J  une — September. 

Distribution — United  States  and  Canada  in  almost  every  part. 

Seeds  below,  a  circle  of  insignificant  purple-blue  flowers  in 
the  centre,  and  buds  at  the  top  of  the  vervain's  slender  spires  do 
not  produce  a  striking  effect,  yet  this  common  plant  certainly 
does  not  lack  beauty.  John  Burroughs,  ever  ready  to  say  a 
kindly,  appreciative  word  for  any  weed,  speaks  of  its  drooping, 
knotted  threads,  that  "make  a  pretty  etching  upon  the  winter 
snow."  Bees,  the  vervain's  benefactors,  are  usually  seen  cling- 
ing to  the  blooming  spikes,  and  apparently  sleep  on  them.  Bor- 
rowing the  name  of  simpler's  joy  from  its  European  sister,  the 
flower  has  also  appropriated  much  of  the  tradition  and  folk-lore 
centred  about  that  plant  which  herb-gatherers,  or  simplers,  truly 
delighted  to  see,  since  none  was  once  more  salable. 

European  Vervain  (K  officinalis)  Herb-of-the-Cross,  Berbine, 
Holy-herb,  Enchanter's  Plant,  Juno's  Tears,  Pigeon-grass,  Light- 
ning Plant,  Simpler's  Joy,  and  so  on  through  a  long  list  of  popu- 

40 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

lar  names  for  the  most  part  testifying  to  the  plant's  virtue  as  a 
love-philter,  bridal  token,  and  general  cure-all,  has  now  become 
naturalized  from  the  Old  World  on  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Slopes, 
and  is  rapidly  appropriating  waste  and  cultivated  ground  until, 
in  many  places,  it  is  truly  troublesome.  In  general  habit  like 
the  blue  vervain,  its  flowers  are  more  purplish  than  blue,  and  are 
scattered,  not  crowded,  along  the  spikes.  The  leaves  are  deeply, 
but  less  acutely,  cut. 

Ages 

vain — found  growing  on  Mount  Calvary,  and  therefore  possessing 
every  sort  of  miraculous  power,  according  to  the  logic  of  simple 
peasant  folk — the  Druids  had  counted  it  among  their  sacred 
plants.  "When  the  dog-star  arose  from  unsunned  spots  "  the 
priests  gathered  it.  Did  not  Shakespeare's  witches  learn  some 
of  their  uncanny  rites  from  these  reverend  men  of  old  ?  One  is 
impressed  with  the  striking  similarity  of  many  customs  recorded 
of  both.  Two  of  the  most  frequently  used  ingredients  in  witches' 
cauldrons  were  the  vervain  and  the  rue'.  "  The  former  probably 
derived  its  notoriety  from  the  fact  of  its  being  sacred  to  Thor,  an 
honor  which  marked  it  out,  like  other  lightning  plants,  as  pecu- 
liarly adapted  for  occult  uses,"  says  Mr.  Thiselton  Dyer  in  his 
"  Folk-lore  of  Plants."  "Although  vervain,  therefore,  as  the  en- 
chanter's plant,  was  gathered  by  witches  to  do  mischief  in  their 
incantations,  yet,  as  Aubrey  says,  it  '  hinders  witches  from  their 
will,'  a  circumstance  to  which  Drayton  further  refers  when  he 
speaks  of  the  vervain  as  "gainst  witchcraft  much  avayling.'" 
Now  we  understand  why  the  children  of  Shakespeare's  time  hung 
vervain  and  dill  with  a  horseshoe  over  the  door. 

In  his  eighth  Eclogue,  Virgil  refers  to  vervain  as  a  charm  to 
recover  lost  love.  Doubtless  this  was  the  verbena,  the  herba 
sacra  employed  in  ancient  Roman  sacrifices,  according  to  Pliny. 
In  his  day  the  bridal  wreath  was  of  verbena,  gathered  by  the 
bride  herself. 


Narrow-leaved  Vervain  (K.  angustijoiia),  like  the  blue  vervain, 
has  a  densely  crowded  spike  of  tiny  purple  or  blue  flowers  that 
quickly  give  place  to  seeds,  but  usually  there  is  only  one  spike  at 
the  end  of  a  branch.  The  leaves  are  narrow,  lance-shaped,  acute, 
saw-edged,  rough.  From  Massachusetts  and  Florida  westward 
to  Minnesota  and  Arkansas  one  finds  the  plant  blooming  in  dry 
fields  from  June  to  August,  after  the  parsimonious  manner  of  the 
vervain  tribe. 

It  is  curious  that  the  vervain,  or  verbena,  employed  by  brides 
for  centuries  as  the  emblem  of  chastity,  should  be  one  of  the 
notorious  botanical  examples  of  a  wilful  hybrid.  Generally,  the 
individuals  of  distinct  species  do  not  interbreed  ;  but  verbenas  are 
often  difficult  to  name  correctly  in  every  case  because  of  their 
susceptibility  to  each  other's  pollen — the  reason  why  the  garden 

41 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

verbena  may  so  easily  be  made  to  blossom  forth  into  whatever 
hue  the  gardener  wills.  His  plants  have  been  obtained,  for  the 
most  part,  from  the  large-flowered  verbena,  the  beautiful  purple, 
blue,  or  white  species  of  our  Western  States  (K.  Canadensis) 
crossed  with  brilliant-hued  species  imported  from  South  America. 


Mad-dog   Skullcap    or    Helmet-flower;    Mad- 
weed  ;  Hoodwort 

(Scutellaria  lateriflora)  Mint  family 

Flowers — Blue,  varying  to  whitish  ;  several  or  many,  ^  in.  long, 
growing  in  axils  of  upper  leaves  or  in  i -sided  spike-like 
racemes.  Calyx  2-lipped,  the  upper  lip  with  a  helmet-like 
protuberance;  corolla  2-lipped;  the  lower, ^-lobed  lip  spread- 
ing ;  the  middle  lobe  larger  than  the  side  ones.  Stamens,  4, 
in  pairs,  under  the  upper  lip ;  upper  pair  the  shorter  ;  one  pis- 
til, the  style  unequally  cleft  in  two.  Stem :  Square,  smooth, 
leafy,  branched,  8  in.  to  2  ft.  high.  Leaves:  Opposite,  oblong 
to  lance-shaped,  thin,  toothed,  on  slender  pedicles,  i  to  3  in. 
long,  growing  gradually  smaller  toward  top  of  stem.  Fruit: 
4  nutlets. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Wet,  shady  ground. 

Flowering  Season—} uly — September. 

Distribution — Uneven  throughout  United  States  and  the  British 
Possessions. 

By  the  helmet-like  appendage  on  the  upper  lip  of  the  calyx, 
which  to  the  imaginative  mind  of  Linnaeus  suggested  Scutellum 
(a  little  dish),  which  children  delight  to  spring  open  for  a  view  of 
the  four  tiny  seeds  attached  at  the  base  when  in  fruit,  one  knows 
this  to  be  a  member  of  the  skullcap  tribe,  a  widely  scattered  genus 
of  blue  and  violet  two-lipped  flowers,  some  small  to  the  point  of 
insignificance,  like  the  present  species,  others  showy  enough  for 
the  garden,  but  all  rich  in  nectar,  and  eagerly  sought  by  bees. 
The  wide  middle  lobe  of  the  lower  lip  forms  a  convenient  plat- 
form on  which  to  alight  ;  the  stamens  in  the  roof  of  a  newly 
opened  blossom  dust  the  back  of  the  visitor  as  he  explores  the 
nectary  ;  and  as  the  stamens  of  an  older  flower  wither  when  they 
have  shed  their  pollen,  and  the  style  then  rises  to  occupy  their 
position,  it  follows  that,  in  flying  from  the  top  of  one  spike  of 
flowers  to  the  bottom  of  another,  where  the  older  ones  are,  the 
visitor,  for  whom  the  whole  scheme  of  color,  form,  and  arrange- 
ment was  planned,  deposits  on  the  sticky  top  of  the  style  some  of 
the  pollen  he  has  brought  with  him,  and  so  cross-fertilizes  the 
flower.  When  the  seeds  begin  to  form  and  the  now  useless  corolla 
drops  off,  the  helmet-like  appendage  on  the  top  of  the  calyx 

42 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

enlarges  and  meets  the  lower  lip,  so  enclosing  and  protecting  the 
tiny  nutlets.  After  their  maturity,  either  the  mouth  gapes  from 
dryness,  or  the  appendage  drops  off  altogether,  from  the  same 
cause,  to  release  the  seeds.  Old  herb  doctors,  who  professed  to 
cure  hydrophobia  with  this  species,  are  responsible  for  its  English 
misnomer. 

Perhaps  the  most  beautiful  member  of  the  genus  is  the 
Showy  Skullcap  (5.  serrata],  whose  blue  corolla,  an  inch  long,  has 
its  narrow  upper  lip  shorter  than  the  spreading  lower  one.  The 
flowers  are  set  opposite  each  other  at  the  end  of  the  smooth  stem, 
which  rises  from  one  to  two  feet  high  in  the  woods  throughout  a 
southerly  and  westerly  range.  As  several  other  skullcaps  have 
distinctly  saw-edged  leaves,  this  plant  might  have  been  given  a 
more  distinctive  adjective,  thinks  one  who  did  not  have  the  naming 
of  200,000  species  ! 

Above  dry,  sandy  soil  from  New  York  and  Michigan  south- 
ward the  Hairy  Skullcap  (5.  pilosa)  lifts  short  racemes  of  blue 
flowers  that  are  only  half  an  inch  long,  and  whose  lower  lip  and 
lobes  at  either  side  are  shorter  than  the  arched  upper  lip.  Most 
parts  of  the  plant  are  covered  with  down,  the  lower  stem  being 
especially  hairy  ;  and  this  fact  determines  the  species  when  con- 
nected with  its  rather  distant  pairs  of  indented,  veiny  leaves,  rang- 
ing from  oblong  to  egg-shaped,  and  furnished  with  petioles  which 
grow  gradually  shorter  toward  the  top,  where  pairs  of  bracts, 
seated  on  the  stem,  part  to  let  the  flowers  spring  from  their  axils. 

The  Larger  or  Hyssop  Skullcap  (5.  integrifolia)  rarely  has  a 
dent  in  its  rounded  oblong  leaves,  which,  like  the  stem,  are  covered 
with  fine  down.  Its  lovely,  bright  blue  flowers,  an  inch  long,  the 
lips  of  about  equal  length,  are  grouped  opposite  each  other  at  the 
top  of  a  stem  that  never  lifts  them  higher  than  two  feet  ;  and  so 
their  beauty  is  often  concealed  in  the  tall  grass  of  roadsides  and 
meadows  and  the  undergrowth  of  woods  and  thickets,  where 
they  bloom  from  May  to  August,  from  southern  New  England  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  westward  to  Texas.  (Illustration,  p.  56.) 

This  tribe  of  plants  is  almost  exclusively  North  American,  but 
the  hardy  Marsh  Skullcap,  or  Hooded  Willow-herb  (5.  galericulata) , 
at  least,  roams  over  Europe,  and  Asia  also,  with  the  help  of  runners, 
as  well  as  seeds  that,  sinking  into  .the  soft  earth  of  swamps  and 
the  borders  of  brooks,  find  growth  easy.  The  blue  flowers  which 
grow  singly  in  the  axils  of  the  upper  leaves  are  quite  as  long  as 
those  of  the  larger  and  the  showy  skullcaps  ;  the  oblong,  lance- 
shaped  leaves,  which  are  mostly  seated  on  the  branching  stem, 
opposite  each  other,  have  low  teeth.  Why  do  leaves  vary  as  they 

43 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

do,  especially  in  closely  allied  species  ?  "  The  causes  which  have 
led  to  the  different  forms  of  leaves  have  been,  so  far  as  I  know," 
says  Sir  John  Lubbock,  "explained  in  very  few  cases  :  those  of 
the  shapes  and  structure  of  seeds  are  tolerably  obvious  in  some 
species,  but  in  the  majority  they  are  still  entirely  unexplained  ; 
and,  even  as  regards  the  blossoms  themselves,  in  spite  of  the 
numerous  and  conscientious  labors  of  so  many  eminent  naturalists, 
there  is  as  yet  no  single  species  thoroughly  known  to  us." 


Ground  Ivy   or   Joy;   Gill-over-the-Ground ; 
Field  Balm;  Creeping  Charlie 

(Glecoma  hcderacea)  Mint  family 
(Nepeta  Glechoma  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Light  bluish  purple,  dotted  with  small  specks  of  reddish 
violet ;  growing  singly  or  in  clusters  along  stem,  seated  in 
leaf  axils  ;  calyx  hairy,  with  5  sharp  teeth  ;  corolla  tubular, 
over  ^2  in.  long,  2-lipped,  the  upper  lip  2-lobed,  lower  lip  with 
3  spreading  lobes,  middle  one  largest ;  4  stamens  in  pairs  under 
upper  lip  ;  the  anther  sacs  spreading  ;  i  pistil  with  2-lobed 
style.  Stem:  Trailing,  rooting  at  intervals,  sometimes  18  in. 
long,  leafy,  the  branches  ascending.  Leaves:  From  Y-z  to  \Yz 
in.  across  ;  smooth,  rounded,  kidney-shaped,  scallop-edged. 

Preferred  Habitat — Waste  places,  shady  ground. 

Flowering  Season — March — May. 

Distribution — Eastern  half  of  Canada  and  the  United  States,  from 
Georgia  and  Kansas  northward. 

Besides  the  larger  flowers,  containing  both  stamens  and  pistils, 
borne  on  this  little  immigrant,  smaller  female  flowers,  containing 
a  pistil  only,  occur  just  as  they  do  in  thyme,  mint,  marjoram,  and 
doubtless  other  members  of  the  great  family  to  which  all  belong. 
Muller  attempted  to  prove  that  these  small  flowers,  being  the  least 
showy,  are  the  last  to  be  visited  by  insects,  which,  having  pre- 
viously dusted  themselves  with  pollen  from  the  stamens  of  the 
larger  flowers  when  they  first  open,  are  in  a  condition  to  make 
cross-fertilization  certain.  So  much  for  the  small  flower's  method 
of  making  insects  serve  its  end  ;  the  larger  flowers  have  another 
way.  At  first  they  are  male  ;  that  is,  the  pistil  is  as  yet  undevel- 
oped and  the  four  stamens  are  mature,  ready  to  shed  pollen  on 
any  insect  alighting  on  the  lip.  Later,  when  the  stamens  are 
past  maturity,  the  pistil  elongates  itself  and  is  ready  for  the  recep- 
tion of  pollen  brought  from  younger  flowers.  Many  blossoms 
are  male  on  the  first  day  of  opening,  and  female  later,  to  protect 
themselves  against  self-fertilization. 

44 


From  Bine  to  Purple 

In  Europe,  where  the  aromatic  leaves  of  this  little  creeper  were 
long  ago  used  for  fermenting  and  clarifying  beer,  it  is  known  by 
such  names  as  ale-hoof  and  gill  ale — gill,  it  is  said,  being  derived 
from  the  old  French  word,  guiller,  to  ferment  or  make  merry. 
Having  trailed  across  Europe,  the  persistent  hardy  plant  is  now 
creeping  its  way  over  our  continent,  much  to  the  disgust  of  cattle, 
which  show  unmistakable  dislike  for  a  single  leaf  caught  up  in  a 
mouthful  of  herbage. 

Very  closely  allied  to  the  ground  ivy  is  the  Catmint  or  Catnip 
(Nepeta  Cataria),  whose  pale-purple,  or  nearly  white  flowers,  dark- 
spotted,  may  be  most  easily  named  by  crushing  the  coarsely 
toothed  leaves  in  one's  hand.  It  is  curious  how  cats  will  seek 
out  this  hoary-hairy  plant  in  the  waste  places  where  it  grows  and 
become  half-crazed  with  delight  over  its  aromatic  odor. 


Self-heal;  Heal-all ;  Blue  Curls;  Heart-of-the- 
Earth;  Brunella 

(Prunella  vulgaris)   Mint  family 

Flowers — Purple  and  violet,  in  dense  spikes,  somewhat  resem- 
bling a  clover  head ;  from  %  to  i  in.  long  in  flower,  becoming  4 
times  the  length  in  fruit.  Corolla  tubular,  irregularly  2-lipped, 
the  upper  lip  darker  and  hood-like  ;  the  lower  one  3-lobed, 
spreading,  the  middle  and  largest  lobe  fringed  ;  4  twin-like 
stamens  ascending  under  upper  lip ;  filaments  of  the  lower  and 
longer  pair  2-toothed  at  summit,  one  of  the  teeth  bearing  an 
anther,  the  other  tooth  sterile  ;  style  thread-like,  shorter  than 
stamens,  and  terminating  in  a  2-cleft  stigma.  Calyx  2-parted, 
half  the  length  of  corolla,  its  teeth  often  hairy  on  edges.  Stem:  2 
in.  to  2  ft.  high,  erect  or  reclining,  simple  or  branched.  Leaves: 
Opposite,  oblong.  Fruit:  4  nutlets,  round  and  smooth. 

Preferred  ffatt /at— Fields,  roadsides,  waste  places. 

Flowering  Season — May — October. 

Distribution — North  America,  Europe,  Asia. 

This  humble,  rusty  green  plant,  weakly  lopping  over  the  sur- 
rounding grass,  so  that  often  only  its  insignificant  purple,  clover- 
like  flower  heads  are  visible,  is  another  of  those  immigrants  from 
the  old  countries  which,  having  proved  fittest  in  the  fiercer  struggle 
for  existence  there,  has  soon  after  its  introduction  here  exceeded 
most  of  our  more  favored  native  flowers  in  numbers.  Every- 
where we  find  the  heal-all,  sometimes  dusty  and  stunted  by  the 
roadside,  sometimes  truly  beautiful  in  its  fresh  purple,  violet,  and 
white  when  perfectly  developed  under  happy  conditions.  In 

45 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

England,  where  most  flowers  are  deeper  hued  than  with  us,  the 
heal-all  is  rich  purple.  What  is  the  secret  of  this  flower's  success- 
ful march  across  three  continents  ?  As  usual,  the  chief  reason  is 
to  be  found  in  the  facility  it  offers  insects  to  secure  food  ;  and 
the  quantity  of  fertile  seed  it  is  therefore  able  to  ripen  as  the  result 
of  their  visits  is  its  reward.  Also,  its  flowering  season  is  unusu- 
ally long,  and  it  is  a  tireless  bloomer.  It  is  finical  in  no  respect  ; 
its  sprawling  stems  root  easily  at  the  joints,  and  it  is  very  hardy. 

Several  species  of  bumblebees  enter  the  flower,  which  being 
set  in  dense  clusters  enables  them  to  suck  the  nectar  from  each 
with  the  minimum  loss  of  time,  the  smaller  bee  spending  about 
two  seconds  to  each.  After  allowing  for  the  fraction  of  time  it 
takes  him  to  sweep  his  eyes  and  the  top  of  his  head  with  his 
forelegs  to  free  them  from  the  pollen  which  must  inevitably  be 
shaken  from  the  stamen  in  the  arch  of  the  corolla  as  he  dives 
deeply  after  the  nectar  in  the  bottom  of  the  throat,  and  to  pass  the 
pollen,  just  as  honey-bees  do,  with  the  most  amazing  quickness, 
from  the  forelegs  to  the  middle  ones,  and  thence  to  the  hairy 
"basket"  on  the  hind  ones — after  making  all  allowances  for  such 
delays,  this  small  worker  is  able  to  fertilize  all  the  flowers  in  the 
fullest  cluster  in  half  a  minute  !  When  the  contents  of  the  baskets 
of  two  different  species  of  bumblebees  caught  on  this  blossom 
were  examined  under  the  microscope,  the  pollen  in  one  case  proved 
to  be  heal-all,  with  some  from  the  golden-rod,  and  a  few  grains  of 
a  third  kind  not  identified  ;  and  in  the  other  case,  heal-all  pollen 
and  a  small  proportion  of  some  unknown  kind.  Bees  that  are 
evidently  out  for  both  nectar  and  pollen  on  the  same  trip  have 
been  detected  visiting  white  and  yellow  flowers  on  their  way 
from  one  heal-all  cluster  to  another  ;  and  this  fact,  together  with 
the  presence  of  more  than  one  kind  of  pollen  in  the  basket,  shows 
that  the  generally  accepted  statement  that  bees  confine  them- 
selves to  flowers  of  one  kind  or  color  during  a  trip  is  not  always 
according  to  fact. 

The  older  name  of  the  plant,  Brunella,  and  the  significant  one, 
altered  by  Linnaeus  into  the  softer  sound  it  now  bears,  is  doubt- 
less derived  from  the  German  word,  brailne,  the  quinsy.  Quaint 
old  Parkinson  reads  :  "  This  is  generally  called  prunella  and  bru- 
nella  from  the  Germans  who  called  it  brunellen,  because  it  cureth 
that  disease  which  they  call  die  bruen,  common  to  soldiers  in 
campe,  but  especially  in  garrison,  which  is  an  inflammation  of  the 
mouth,  throat,  and  tongue."  Among  the  old  herbalists  who  pre- 
tended to  cure  every  ill  that  flesh  is  heir  to  with  it,  it  was  variously 
known  as  carpenter's  herb,  sicklewort,  hook-heal,  slough-heal, 
and  brownwort. 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

American  or    Mock    Pennyroyal;    Tickweed ; 
Squaw  Mint 

(Hedeoma  pulegioides)  Mint  family 

Flowers — Very  small,  bluish  purple,  clustered  in  axils  of  upper 
leaves.  Calyx  tubular,  unequally  5-cleft;  teeth  of  upper  lip 
triangular,  hairy  in  throat.  Corolla  2-lipped,  upper  lip  erect, 
notched;  lower  one  ^-cleft,  spreading;  2  anther-bearing 
stamens  under  upper  lip;  2  sterile  but  apparent;  I  pistil  with 
2-cleft  style.  Stem:  Low,  erect,  branched,  square,  hairy,  6  to 
1 8  in.  high.  Leaves:  Small,  opposite,  ovate  to  oblong,  scant- 
ily toothed,  strongly  aromatic,  pungent. 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry  fields,  open  woodland. 

Flowering  Season — J  uly — September. 

Distribution — Cape  Breton  Island  westward  to  Nebraska,  south  to 
Florida. 

However  insignificant  its  flower,  this  common  little  plant  un- 
mistakably proclaims  its  presence  throughout  the  neighborhood. 
So  powerful  is  the  pungent  aroma  of  its  leaves  that  dog  doctors 
sprinkle  them  about  freely  in  the  kennels  to  kill  fleas,  a  pest  by 
no  means  exterminated  in  Southern  Europe,  however,  where  the 
true  pennyroyal  of  commerce  (Mentha  Pulegium)  is  native.  Herb 
gatherers  who  collect  our  pennyroyal,  that  is  so  similar  to  the  Eu- 
ropean species  it  is  similarly  employed  in  medicine,  say  they  can 
scent  it  from  a  greater  distance  than  any  other  plant. 

Bastard  Pennyroyal,  which,  like  the  Self-heal,  is  sometimes 
called  Blue  Curls  (Trichostema  dichotomum),  chooses  dry  fields, 
but  preferably  sandy  ones,  where  we  find  its  abundant,  tiny  blue 
flowers,  that  later  change  to  purple,  from  July  to  October.  Its 
balsam-like  odor  is  not  agreeable,  neither  has  the  plant  beauty  to 
recommend  it;  yet  where  it  grows,  from  Maine  to  Florida,  and 
west  to  Texas,  it  is  likely  to  be  so  common  we  cannot  well  pass  it 
unnoticed.  The  low,  stiff,  slender,  much-branched,  and  rather 
clammy  stem  bears  opposite,  oblong,  smooth-edged  leaves  nar- 
rowed into  petioles.  One,  two,  or  three  flowers,  borne  at  the 
tips  of  the  branches,  soon  fall  off,  leaving  the  5-cleft  calyx  to 
cradle  four  exposed  nutlets. 

From  the  five-lobed  tubular  corolla  protrude  four  very  long, 
curling,  blue  or  violet  stamens — hair  stamens  the  Greek  generic 
title  signifies — and  the  pretty  popular  name  of  blue  curls  also  has 
reference  to  these  conspicuous  filaments  that  are  spirally  coiled  in 
the  bud. 

In  general  habit  like  the  two  preceding  plants,  the  False  Pen- 
47 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

nyroyal  (Isanthus  brachiatus)  nevertheless  prefers  that  its  sandy 
home  should  be  near  streams.  From  Quebec  to  Georgia,  west- 
ward to  Minnesota  and  Texas,  it  blooms  in  midsummer,  lifting  its 
small,  tubular,  pale-blue  flowers  from  the  axils  of  pointed,  opposite 
leaves.  An  unusual  characteristic  in  one  of  the  mint  tribe  is  that 
the  five  sharp  lobes  of  its  bell-shaped  calyx,  and  the  five  rounded, 
spreading  lobes  of  the  corolla,  are  of  equal  length,  hence  its  Greek 
name  signifying  an  equal  flower. 


Wild  or  Creeping-  Thyme 

(Thymus  Serpyllum)   Mint  family 

Flowers — Very  small  purple  or  pink  purple,  fragrant,  clustered  at 
ends  of  branches  or  in  leaf  axils.  Hairy  calyx  and  corolla  2- 
lipped,  the  latter  with  lower  lip  3-cleft;  stamens  4;  style  2- 
cleft.  Leaves:  Oblong,  opposite,  aromatic.  Stem:  4  to  12 
in.  long,  creeping,  woody,  branched,  forming  dense  cushions. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Roadsides,  dry  banks,  and  waste  places. 

Flowering  Season — June — September. 

Distribution — Naturalized  from  Europe.  Nova  Scotia  to  Middle 
States. 

"  I  know  a  bank  where  the  wild  thyme  blows, 
Where  oxlips  and  the  nodding  violet  grows  ; 
Quite  over-canopied  with  luscious  woodbine, 
With  sweet  musk-roses,  and  with  eglantine." 

—A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream. 

According  to  Danish  tradition,  any  one  waiting  by  an  elder- 
bush  on  Midsummer  Night  at  twelve  o'clock  will  see  the  king  of 
fairyland  and  all  his  retinue  pass  by  and  disport  themselves  in 
favorite  haunts,  among  others  the  mounds  of  fragrant  wild  thyme. 
How  well  Shakespeare  knew  his  folk-lore! 

Thyme  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  three  plants  which 
made  the  Virgin  Mary's  bed.  Indeed,  the  European  peasants  have 
as  many  myths  as  there  are  quotations  from  the  poets  about  this 
classic  plant.  Its  very  name  denotes  that  it  was  used  as  an  in- 
cense in  Greek  temples.  No  doubt  it  was  the  Common  Thyme 
(T.  vulgaris),  an  erect,  tall  plant  cultivated  in  gardens  here  as  a 
savory,  that  Horace  says  the  Romans  used  so  extensively  for  bee 
culture. 

Dense  cushions  of  creeping  thyme  usually  contain  two  forms 
of  blossoms  on  separate  plants — hermaphrodite  (male  and  female), 
which  are  much  the  commoner ;  and  pistillate,  or  only  female, 
flowers,  in  which  the  stamens  develop  no  pollen.  The  latter  are 
more  fertile  ;  none  can  fertilize  itself.  But  blossoms  so  rich  in 
nectar  naturally  attract  quantities  of  insects — bees  and  butterflies 

48 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

chiefly.  A  newly  opened  hermaphrodite  flower,  male  on  the  first 
day,  dusts  its  visitors  as  they  pass  the  ripe  stamens.  This  pollen 
they  carry  to  a  flower  two  days  old,  which,  having  reached  the 
female  stage,  receives  it  on  the  mature  two-cleft  stigma,  now 
erect  and  tall,  whereas  the  stamens  are  past  maturity. 


Garden,  Spear,  or  Mackerel  Mint 

(Mentha  spicatd)  Mint  family 
(M.  viridis  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Small,  pale  bluish,  or  pinkish  purple,  in  whorls,  forming 
terminal,  interrupted,  narrow  spikes,  2  to  4  in.  long  in  fruit,  the 
central  one  surpassing  lateral  ones.  Calyx  bell-shaped, 
toothed;  corolla  tubular,  4-cleft.  Stamens  4;  style  2-cleft. 
Stem :  Smooth,  i  to  i  %  ft.  high,  branched.  Leaves :  Oppo- 
site, narrowly  oblong,  acute,  saw-edged,  aromatic. 

Preferred  Habitat — Moist  soil. 

Flowering  Season — July — September. 

Distribution— Eastern  half  of  Canada  and  United  States.  Also 
Europe  and  Asia. 

The  poets  tell  us  that  Proserpine,  Pluto's  wife,  in  a  fit  of 
jealousy  changed  a  hated  rival  into  the  mint  plant,  whose  name 
Mentha,  in  its  Latin  form,  or  Minthe,  the  Greek  equivalent,  is  still 
that  of  the  metamorphosed  beauty,  a  daughter  of  Cocytus,  who 
was  also  Pluto's  wife.  Proserpine  certainly  contrived  to  keep  her 
rival's  memory  fragrant.  But  how  she  must  delight  in  seeing  her 
under  the  chopping-knife  and  served  up  as  sauce! 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  among  the  Labiates,  or  two-lipped  blos- 
soms to  which  thymes  and  mints  belong,  there  very  frequently 
occur  species  bearing  flowers  that  are  male  on  the  first  day  (stami- 
nate)  and  female,  or  pistillate,  on  the  second  day,  and  also  smaller 
female  flowers  on  distinct  plants.  Muller  believed  this  plan  was 
devised  to  attract  insects,  first  by  the  more  showy  hermaphrodite 
flower,  that  they  might  carry  its  pollen  to  the  less  conspicuous 
female  flower,  which  they  would  naturally  visit  last;  but  this  in- 
teresting theory  has  yet  to  be  proved.  Nineteen  species  of  flies,  to 
which  the  mints  are  specially  adapted,  have  been  taken  in  the  act 
of  transferring  pollen.  Ten  varieties  of  the  lower  hymenoptera 
(bees,  wasps,  and  others)  commonly  resort  to  the  fragrant  spikes 
of  bloom. 

Peppermint  (M.  piperitd),  similar  in  manner  of  growth  to  the 
preceding,  is  another  importation  from  Europe  now  thoroughly 
at  home  here  in  wet  soil.  The  volatile  oil  obtained  by  distilling 

4  49 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

its  leaves  has  long  been  an  important  item  of  trade  in  Wayne 
County,  New  York.  One  has  only  to  crush  the  leaves  in  one's 
hand  to  name  the  flower. 

Ournative  Wild  Mint  (A/.  Canadensis),  common  along  brook- 
sides  and  in  moist  soil  from  New  Brunswick  to  Virginia  and  far 
westward,  has  its  whorls  of  small  purplish  flowers  seated  in  the 
leaf  axils.  Its  odor  is  like  pennyroyal.  The  true  pennyroyal, 
not  to  be  confused  with  our  spurious  woodland  annual,  is  M.  Pule- 
gium,  a  native  of  Europe,  whence  a  number  of  its  less  valuable 
relatives,  all  perennials,  have  travelled  to  become  naturalized 
Americans. 

In  dry  open  woods  and  thickets  and  by  the  roadside,  from 
late  August  throughout  September,  we  find  blooming  the  aromatic 
fragrant  Stone  Mint,  Sweet  Horse-mint,  or  American  Dittany 
(Cunila  origanoides) — C.  Mariana  of  Gray.  Its  small  pink-pur- 
ple, lilac,  or  whitish  flowers,  that  are  only  about  half  as  long  as  the 
protruding  pair  of  stamens,  are  borne  in  loose  terminal  clusters 
at  the  ends  of  the  stiff,  branched,  slender,  sometimes  reddish,  stem. 
A  pair  of  rudimentary,  useless  stamens  remain  within  the  two- 
lipped  tube;  the  exserted  pair,  affording  the  most  convenient 
alighting  place  for  the  visiting  flies,  dust  their  under  sides  with 
pollen  the  first  day  the  flower  opens;  on  the  next,  the  stigma 
will  be  ready  to  receive  pollen  carried  from  young  flowers. 


Nightshade;  Blue  Bindweed ;  Felonwort;  Bit- 
tersweet; Scarlet  or  Snake  Berry;  Poison- 
flower;  Woody  Nightshade 

(Solatium  Dulcamara)  Potato  family 

Flowers — Blue,  purple,  or,  rarely,  white  with  greenish  spots  on  each 
lobe  ;  about  /^  in.  broad,  clustered  in  slender,  drooping 
cymes.  Calyx  5-lobed,  oblong,  persistent  on  the  berry ;  corolla 
deeply,  sharply  5-cleft,  wheel-shaped,  or  points  curved  back- 
ward ;  5  stamens  inserted  on  throat,  yellow,  protruding,  the 
anthers  united  to  form  a  cone;  stigma  small.  Stem:  Climb- 
ing or  straggling,  woody  below,  branched,  2  to  8  ft.  long. 
Leaves:  Alternate,  2  to  4  in.  long,  i  to  2^  in.  wide,  pointed 
at  the  apex,  usually  heart-shaped  at  base;  some  with  2  dis- 
tinct leaflets  below  on  the  petiole,  others  have  leaflets  united 
with  leaf  like  lower  lobes  or  wings.  Fruit;  A  bright  red, 
oval  berry. 

Preferred  ffaM*f—Mo»t  thickets,  fencerows. 

Flowering  Season — May — September. 

5° 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

Distribution — United  States  east  of  Kansas,  north  of  New  Jersey. 
Canada,  Europe,  and  Asia. 

More  beautiful  than  the  graceful  flowers  are  the  drooping 
cymes  of  bright  berries,  turning  from  green  to  yellow,  then  to 
orange  and  scarlet,  in  the  tangled  thicket  by  the  shady  roadside  in 
autumn,  when  the  unpretending,  shrubby  vine,  that  has  crowded 
its  way  through  the  rank  midsummer  vegetation,  becomes  a  joy 
to  the  eye.  Another  bittersweet,  so-called,  festoons  the  hedge- 
rows with  yellow  berries  which,  bursting,  show  their  scarlet-coated 
seeds.  Rose  hips  and  mountain-ash  berries,  among  many  other 
conspicuous  bits  of  color,  arrest  attention,  but  not  for  us  were  they 
designed.  Now  the  birds  are  migrating,  and,  hungry  with  their 
long  flight,  they  gladly  stop  to  feed  upon  fare  so  attractive.  Hard, 
indigestible  seeds  traverse  the  alimentary  canal  without  alteration 
and  are  deposited  many  miles  from  the  parent  that  bore  them. 
Nature's  methods  for  widely  distributing  plants  cannot  but  stir 
the  dullest  imagination. 

The  purple  pendent  flowers  of  this  nightshade  secrete  no 
nectar,  therefore  many  insects  let  them  alone ;  but  it  is  now  be- 
lieved that  no  part  of  the  plant  is  poisonous.  Certainly  one  that 
claims  the  potato,  tomato,  and  egg-plant  among  its  kin  has  no 
right  to  be  dangerous.  The  Black,  Garden,  or  Deadly  Nightshade, 
also  called  Morel  (5.  nigrum},  bears  jet-black  berries  that  are  alleged 
to  be  fatal.  Nevertheless,  female  bumblebees,  to  which  its  white 
flowers  are  specially  adapted,  visit  them  to  draw  out  pollen  from 
the  chinks  of  the  anthers  with  their  jaws,  just  as  they  do  in  the 
case  of  the  wild,  sensitive  plant,  and  with  no  more  disastrous 
result.  It  has  been  well  said  that  the  nightshades  are  a  blessing 
both  to  the  sick  and  to  the  doctors.  The  present  species  takes 
its  name  from  dulcis,  sweet,  and  amaras,  bitter,  referring  to 
the  taste  of  the  juice;  the  generic  name  is  derived  from  solamen, 
solace  or  consolation,  referring  to  the  relief  afforded  by  the  nar- 
cotic properties  of  some  of  these  plants. 

Blue  or  Wild  Toadflax;    Blue  Linaria 

(Linaria  Canadensis)  Figwort  family 

Flowers — Pale  blue  to  purple,  small,  irregular,  in  slender  spikes. 
Calyx  5-pointed;  corolla  2-lipped,  with  curved  spur  longer 
than  its  tube,  which  is  nearly  closed  by  a  white,  2-ridged  pro- 
jection or  palate;  the  upper  lip  erect,  2-lobed;  lower  lip  3- 
lobed,  spreading.  Stamens  4,  in  pairs,  in  throat;  i  pistil. 
Stem:  Slender,  weak,  of  sterile  shoots,  prostrate;  flowering 
stem,  ascending  or  erect,  4  in.  to  2  ft.  high.  Leaves :  Small, 
linear,  alternately  scattered  along  stem,  or  oblong  in  pairs  or 
threes  on  leafy  sterile  shoots. 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry  soil,  gravel,  or  sand. 

Flowering  Season — May — October. 

Distribution — North,  Central,  and  South  Americas. 

Sometimes  lying  prostrate  in  the  dust,  sometimes  erect,  the 
linaria's  delicate  spikes  of  bloom  wear  an  air  of  injured  innocence; 
yet  the  plant,  weak  as  it  looks,  has  managed  to  spread  over  three 
Americas  from  ocean  to  ocean.  More  beautiful  than  the  rather 
scrawny  flowers  are  the  tufts  of  cool  green  foliage  made  by  the 
sterile  shoots  that  take  complete  possession  of  a  wide  area  around 
the  parent  plants. 

Unlike  its  relative  butter-and-eggs,  the  corolla  of  this  toadflax 
is  so  contracted  that  bees  cannot  enter  it;  but  by  inserting  their 
long  tongues,  they  nevertheless  manage  to  drain  it.  Small,  short- 
tongued  bees  contrive  to  reach  only  a  little  nectar.  The  palate, 
so  valuable  to  the  other  linaria,  has  in  this  one  lost  its  function; 
and  the  larger  flies,  taking  advantage  of  the  flower's  weakness, 
pilfer  both  sweets  and  pollen.  Butterflies,  to  which  a  slender- 
spurred  flower  is  especially  attractive,  visit  this  one  in  great  num- 
bers, and  as  they  cannot  regale  themselves  without  touching  the 
anthers  and  stigma,  they  may  be  regarded  as  the  legitimate  visitors. 

Wolf,  rat,  mouse,  sow,  cow,  cat,  snake,  dragon,  dog,  toad,  are 
among  the  many  animal  prefixes  to  the  names  of  flowers  that  the 
English  country  people  have  given  for  various  and  often  most  in- 
teresting reasons,  just  as  dog,  used  as  a  prefix,  expresses  an 
idea  of  worthlessness  to  them,  so  toad  suggests  a  spurious  plant; 
the  toadflax  being  made  to  bear  what  is  meant  to  be  an  odious 
name  because  before  flowering  it  resembles  the  true  flax,  linum, 
from  which  the  generic  title  is  derived. 


Maryland   Figwort;    Bee   Plant;   Knotted   Fig- 
wort;  Heal-all;  Pilewort 

(Scrophularia  Marylandicd)  Figwort  family 
(S.  nodosa  of  Gray.) 

Flowers — Very  small,  dull  green  on  outside  ;  vivid,  shining  brown- 
ish purple  within  ;  borne  in  almost  leafless  terminal  clusters 
on  slender  stems.  Calyx  ^-parted  ;  corolla  of  5  rounded 
lobes,  the  2  upper  ones  erect,  side  ones  ascending,  lower 
one  bent  downward  ;  5  stamens,  4  of  them  twin-like  and 
bearing  anthers,  the  fifth  sterile,  a  mere  scale  on  roof  of 
the  globular  corolla  tube  ;  style  with  knot-like  stigma. 
Stem:  From  3  to  10  ft.  high,  square,  with  grooved  sides, 
widely  branching.  Leaves:  From  3  to  12  in.  long,  oblong, 
pointed,  coarsely  toothed,  on  slender  stems,  strong  smelling. 

52 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

Preferred  /%£//<*/— Moist,  shady  ground. 
Flowering  Season — July — September. 

Distribution — New  York  to  the  Carolinas,  westward  to  Tennessee 
and  Kansas  ;  possibly  beyond. 

An  insignificant  little  flower  by  itself,  conspicuous  only 
because  it  rears  itself  in  clusters  on  a  level  with  one's  eyes,  lack- 
ing beauty,  perfume,  and  all  that  makes  a  blossom  charming  to 
the  human  mind — why  has  it  been  elevated  by  the  botanists  to 
the  dignity  of  lending  its  name  to  a  large  and  important  family, 
and  why  is  it  mentioned  at  all  in  a  popular  flower  book  beside 
the  more  showy  ornaments  of  nature's  garden  ?  Both  questions 
have  the  same  answer  :  Because  it  is  the  typical  flower  of  the 
family,  and  therefore  serves  as  an  illustration  of  the  manner  in 
which  many  others  are  fertilized.  Beautiful  blossoms  are  by  no 
means  always  the  most  important  ones. 

It  well  repays  one  to  observe  the  relative  times  of  matur- 
ing anthers  and  stigmas  in  the  flowers,  as  thereby  hangs  a 
tale  in  which  some  insect  plays  an  interesting  role.  The  figwort 
matures  its  stigma  at  the  lip  of  the  style  before  its  anthers  have 
ripened  their  pollen.  Why  ?  By  having  the  stigma  of  a  newly 
opened  flower  thrust  forward  to  the  mouth  of  the  corolla,  an 
insect  alighting  on  the  lip,  which  forms  his  only  convenient 
landing  place,  must  brush  against  it  and  leave  upon  it  some 
pollen  brought  from  an  older  flower,  whose  anthers  are  already 
matured.  At  this  early  stage  of  the  flower's  development  its 
stamens  lie  curved  over  in  the  tube  of  the  corolla  ;  but  presently, 
as  the  already  fertilized  style  begins  to  wither,  and  its  stigma  is 
dry  and  no  longer  receptive  to  pollen,  then,  since  there  can  be  no 
longer  any  fear  of  self-pollination — the  horror  of  so  many 
flowers — the  figwort  uncurls  and  elevates  its  stamens.  The 
insect  visitor  in  search  of  nectar  must  get  dusted  with  pollen 
from  the  late  maturing  anthers  now  ready  for  him.  By  this 
ingenious  method  the  flower  becomes  cross-fertilized  and  wastes 
the  least  pollen. 

Bees  and  wasps  evidently  pursue  opposite  routes  in  going  to 
work,  the  former  beginning  at  the  bottom  of  a  spike  or  raceme, 
where  the  older,  more  mature  flowers  are,  and  working  upward; 
the  wasps  commencing  at  the  top,  among  the  newly  opened  ones. 
In  spite  of  the  fact  that  we  usually  see  hive  bees  about  this  plant, 
pilfering  the  generous  supply  of  nectar  in  each  tiny  cup,  it  is  un- 
doubtedly the  wasp  that  is  the  flower's  truest  benefactor,  since 
he  carries  pollen  from  the  older  blossoms  of  the  last  raceme  visited 
to  the  projecting  stigmas  of  the  newly  opened  flowers  at  the  top 
of  the  next  cluster.  Manifestly  no  flower,  even  though  it  were 
especially  adapted  to  wasps,  as  this  one  is,  could  exclude  bees. 
About  one-third  of  all  its  visitors  are  wasps. 

53 


From  Blue  to  Purple 


Hairy  Beard-Tongue 

(Pentstemon  hirsutus)  Figwort  family 
(P.  pubescens  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Dull  violet  or  lilac  and  white,  about  i  in.  long,  borne  in  a 
loose  spike.  Calyx  5-parted,  the  sharply  pointed  sepals  over- 
lapping ;  corolla,  a  gradually  inflated  tube  widening  where  the 
mouth  divides  into  a  2-lobed  upper  lip  and  a  3-lobed  lower 
lip ;  the  throat  nearly  closed  by  hairy  palate  at  base  of  lower  lip ; 
sterile  fifth  stamen  densely  bearded  for  half  its  length  ;  4 
anther-bearing  stamens,  the  anthers  divergent.  Stem  :  i  to  3 
ft.  high,  erect,  downy  above.  Leaves  :  Oblong  to  lance  shape, 
upper  ones  seated  on  stem ;  lower  ones  narrowed  into  petioles. 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry  or  rocky  fields,  thickets,  and  open  woods. 

Flowering  Season — May — July. 

Distribution — Ontario  to  Florida,  Manitoba  to  Texas. 

It  is  the  densely  bearded,  yellow,  fifth  stamen  (pente  =  five, 
stemon  —  a  stamen)  which  gives  this  flower  its  scientific  name  and 
its  chief  interest  to  the  structural  botanist.  From  the  fact  that  a 
blossom  has  a  lip  in  the  centre  of  the  lower  half  of  its  corolla, 
that  an  insect  must  use  as  its  landing  place,  comes  the  necessity 
for  the  pistil  to  occupy  a  central  position.  Naturally,  a  fifth  stamen 
would  be  only  in  its  way,  an  encumbrance  to  be  banished  in  time. 
In  the  figwort,  for  example,  we  have  seen  the  fifth  stamen  reduced, 
from  long  sterility,  to  a  mere  scale  on  the  roof  of  the  corolla  tube  ; 
in  other  lipped  flowers,  the  useless  organ  has  disappeared  ;  but  in 
the  beard-tongue,  it  goes  through  a  series  of  curious  curves  from 
the  upper  to  the  under  side  of  the  flower  to  get  out  of  the  way 
of  the  pistil.  Yet  it  serves  an  admirable  purpose  in  helping  close 
the  mouth  of  the  flower,  which  the  hairy  lip  alone  could  not  ade- 
quately guard  against  pilferers.  A  long-tongued  bee,  thrusting 
in  his  head  up  to  his  eyes  only,  receives  the  pollen  in  his  face. 
The  blossom  is  male  (staminate)  in  its  first  stage  and  female 
(pistillate)  in  its  second. 

While  this  is  the  beard-tongue  commonly  found  in  the 
Eastern  United  States,  particularly  southward,  and  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  of  its  clan,  the  western  species  have  been  selected 
by  the  gardeners  for  hybridizing  into  those  more  showy,  but  often 
less  charming,  flowers  now  quite  extensively  cultivated.  Several 
varieties  of  these,  having  escaped  from  gardens  in  the  East,  are 
locally  common  wild. 

The  Large-flowered  Beard-tongue  (P.  grandiflorus),  one  of 
the  finest  prairie  species,  whose  lavender-blue,  bell-shaped  corolla 

54 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

is  abruptly  dilated  above  the  calyx,  measures  nearly  two  inches 
long.  Its  sterile  filament,  curved  over  at  the  summit,  is  bearded 
there  only. 

Handsomest  of  all  is  the  Cobea  Beard-tongue,  a  native  of  the 
Southwest,  with  a  broadly  rounded,  bell-shaped  corolla,  Hairy 
without,  like  the  leaves,  but  smooth  within.  The  pale  purple 
blossom,  delicately  suffused  with  yellow,  and  pencilled  with  red 
lines — pathfinders  for  the  bees — has  the  base  of  its  tube  creamy 
white.  Few  flowers  hang  from  each  stout  clammy  spike. 

The  more  densely  crowded  spikes  of  the  large  Smooth 
Beard-tongue  (P.  glaber),  a  smaller  blue  or  purple  flowered, 
narrower-leaved  species,  that  shows  an  unusual  preference  for 
moist  soil  throughout  its  range,  is,  like  the  other  beard-tongues 
mentioned,  better  known  to  the  British  gardener,  perhaps,  than 
to  Americans,  who  have  yet  to  learn  the  value  of  many  of  their 
wild  flowers  under  cultivation. 

The  tall  Foxglove  Beard-tongue  (P.  digitalis),  with  large, 
showy  white  blossoms  tinged  with  purple,  the  one  most  com- 
monly grown  in  gardens  here,  escapes  on  the  slightest  encourage- 
ment to  run  wild  again  from  Maine  to  Virginia,  west  to  Illinois 
and  Arkansas.  Small  bees  crawl  into  the  broad  tube,  and  butter- 
flies drain  the  nectar  evidently  secreted  for  long-tongued  bees, 
but  without  certainly  transferring  pollen.  To  insure  cross-fertili- 
zation, the  flower  first  develops  its  anthers,  whose  saw-edges 
grating  against  the  visitor's  thorax,  aid  in  sifting  out  the  dry 
pollen ;  and  later  the  style,  which  when  immature  clung  to  the 
top  of  the  corolla,  lowers  its  receptive  stigma  to  oppose  the  bee's 
entrance.  Professor  Robertson  has  frequently  detected  the  com- 
mon wasp  nipping  holes  with  her  sharp  jaws  in  the  base  of  the 
tube.  With  remarkable  intelligence  she  invariably  chose  to  insert 
her  tongue  at  the  precise  spots  where  the  nectar  is  stored  on 
either  side  of  the  sterile  filament 


Blue-eyed    Mary;    Innocence;    Broad-leaved 
Collinsia 

(Collinsia  -verna)  Figwort  family 

Floivers — On  slender,  weak  stalks ;  whorled  in  axils  of  upper  leaves. 
Blue  on  lower  lip  of  corolla,  its  middle  lobe  folded  lengthwise 
to  enclose  4  adhering  stamens  and  I  pistil ;  upper  lip  white, 
with  scalloped  margins;  corolla  from  YT.  to  24  in.  long,  its 
throat  about  equalling  the  deeply  5-cleft  calyx.  Stem :  Hoary, 

55 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

slender,  simple  or  branched,  from  6  in.  to  2  ft.  high.     Leaves: 

Thin,  opposite ;  upper  and  more  acute  ones  clasping  the  stem ; 

lower,  ovate  ones  on  short  petioles.    Fruit:    A  round  capsule 

to  which  the  enlarged  calyx  adheres. 
Preferred  Habitat—  Moist  meadows,  woods,  and  thickets. 
Flowering  Season — April — June. 
Distribution — Western  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  to  Wisconsin, 

Kentucky,  and  Indian  Territory. 

Next  of  kin  to  the  great  Paulonia  tree,  whose  deliciously 
sweet,  vanilla-scented,  trumpet-shaped  violet  flowers  are  happily 
fast  becoming  as  common  here  as  in  their  native  Japan,  what  has 
this  fragile,  odorless  blossom  of  the  meadows  in  common  with  it  ? 
Apparently  nothing  ;  but  superficial  appearances  count  for  little  or 
nothing  among  scientists,  to  whom  the  structure  of  floral  organs 
is  of  prime  importance  ;  and  analysis  instantly  shows  the  close 
relationship  between  these  dissimilar-looking  cousins.  Even  with- 
out analysis  one  can  readily  see  that  the  monkey  flower  is  not  far 
removed. 

Because  few  writers  have  arisen  as  yet  in  the  newly  settled 
regions  of  the  middle  West  and  Southwest,  where  blue-eyed 
Mary  dyes  acres  of  meadow  land  with  her  heavenly  color,  her 
praises  are  little  sung  in  the  books,  but  are  loudly  buzzed  by 
myriads  of  bees  that  are  her  most  devoted  lovers.  "  I  regard  the 
flower  as  especially  adapted  to  the  early  flying  bees  with  abdom- 
inal collecting  brushes  for  pollen — i.e.,  species  ofOsmia — and  these 
bees,"  says  Professor  Robertson  of  Illinois,  "although  not  the 
exclusive  visitors,  are  far  more  abundant  and  important  than  all 
the  other  visitors  together."  For  them  are  the  brownish  marks 
on  the  palate  provided  as  pathfinders.  At  the  pressure  of  their 
strong  heads  the  palate  yields  to  give  them  entrance,  and  at  their 
removal  it  springs  back  to  protect  the  pollen  against  the  inroads 
of  flies,  mining  bees,  and  beetles.  As  the  longer  stamens  shed 
their  pollen  before  the  shorter  ones  mature  theirs,  bees  must  visit 
the  flower  several  times  to  collect  it  all. 


Monkey-flower 

(Minulus  ringens)  Figwort  family 

Flowers — Purple,  violet,  or  lilac,  rarely  whitish ;  about  I  in.  long, 
solitary,  borne  on  slender  foots'tems  from  axils  of  upper 
leaves.  Calyx  prismatic,  ^-angled,  5-toothed ;  corolla  irregu- 
lar, tubular,  narrow  in  throat,  2-lipped;  upper  lip  2-lobed, 
erect;  under  lip  3-lobed,  spreading;  4  stamens,  a  long  and  a 
short  pair,  inserted  on  corolla  tube;  i  pistil  with  2-lobed, 
plate-like  stigma.  Stem :  Square,  erect,  usually  branched,  I 

56 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

to  3  ft.  high.     Leaves:  Opposite,  oblong  to  lance-shaped, 

saw-edged,  mostly  seated  on  stem. 
Preferred  Habitat — Swamps,  beside  streams  and  ponds. 
Flowering  Season — June — Se pte m ber. 
Distribution — Manitoba,  Nebraska,  and  Texas,  eastward  to  Atlantic 

Ocean. 

No  wader  is  the  square-stemmed  Monkey-flower  whose  grin- 
ning corolla  peers  at  one  from  grassy  tuffets  in  swamps,  from  the 
bropkside,  the  springy  soil  of  low  meadows,  and  damp  hollows 
beside  the  road;  but  moisture  it  must  have  to  fill  its  nectary  and 
to  soften  the  ground  for  the  easier  transit  of  its  creeping  rootstock. 
Imaginative  eyes  see  what  appears  to  them  the  gaping  (ringens) 
face  of  a  little  ape  or  buffoon  (mt'mulus)  in  this  common  flower 
whose  drolleries,  such  as  they  are,  call  forth  the  only  applause 
desired — the  buzz  of  insects  that  become  pollen-laden  during  the 
entertainment. 

Now  the  advanced  stigma  of  this  flower  is  peculiarly  irritable, 
and  closes  up  on  contact  with  an  incoming  visitor's  body,  thus 
exposing  the  pollen-laden  anthers  behind  it,  and,  except  in  rare 
cases,  preventing  self-fertilization.  Delpino  was  the  first  to  guess 
what  advantage  so  sensitive  a  stigma  might  mean.  Probably 
the  smaller  bees  find  the  tube  too  long  for  their  short  tongues. 
The  yellow  palate,  which  partially  guards  the  entrance  to  the  nec- 
tary from  pilferers,  of  course  serves  also  as  a  pathfinder  to  the 
long-tongued  bees. 


American  Brooklime 

(Veronica  Americana)  Figwort  family 

Flowers — Light  blue  to  white,  usually  striped  with  deep  blue  or 

Eurple  ;  structure  of  flower  similar  to  that  of  K.  officinalis, 
ut  borne  in  long,  loose  racemes  branching  outward  on  stems 
that  spring  from  axils  of  most  of  the  leaves.  Stem:  With- 
out hairs,  usually  branched,  6  in.  to  3  ft.  long,  lying  partly 
on  ground  and  rooting  from  lower  joints.  Leaves:  Oblong, 
lance-shaped,  saw-edged,  opposite,  petipled,  and  lacking 
hairs  ;  i  to  3  in.  long,  }{  to  I  in.  wide.  Fruit :  A  nearly  round, 
compressed,  but  not  flat,  capsule  with  flat  seeds  in  2  cells. 

Preferred  Habitat — In  brooks,  ponds,  ditches,  swamps. 

Flowering  Season — April — September. 

Distribution — From  Atlantic  to  Pacific,  Alaska  to  California  and 
New  Mexico,  Quebec  to  Pennsylvania. 

This,  the  perhaps  most  beautiful  native  speedwell,  whose 
sheets  of  blue  along  the  brookside  are  so  frequently  mistaken  for 

57 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

masses  of  forget-me-nots  by  the  hasty  observer,  of  course  shows 
marked  differences  on  closer  investigation  ;  its  tiny  blue  flowers 
are  marked  with  purple  pathfinders,  and  the  plant  is  not  hairy,  to 
mention  only  two.  But  the  poets  of  England  are  responsible  for 
most  of  whatever  confusion  stills  lurks  in  the  popular  mind  con- 
cerning these  two  flowers.  Speedwell,  a  common  mediaeval 
benediction  from  a  friend,  equivalent  to  our  farewell  or  adieu,  and 
forget-me-not  of  similar  intent,  have  been  used  interchangeably 
by  some  writers  in  connection  with  parting  gifts  of  small  blue 
flowers.  It  was  the  germander  speedwell  that  in  literature  and 
botanies  alike  was  most  commonly  known  as  the  forget-me-not 
for  over  two  hundred  years,  or  until  only  fifty  years  ago.  When 
the  "Mayflower"  and  her  sister  ships  were  launched,  "Speed- 
well "  was  considered  a  happier  name  for  a  vessel  than  it  proved 
to  be. 

The  Water  Speedwell,  or  Pimpernel  {V.  Anagallis-aquatica), 
differs  from  the  preceding  chiefly  in  having  most  of  its  leaves 
seated  on  the  stalk,  only  the  lower  ones  possessing  stems,  and 
those  short  ones.  In  autumn  the  increased  growth  of  sterile 
shoots  from  runners  produce  almost  circular  leaves,  often  two 
inches  broad,  a  certain  aid  to  identification. 

Another  close  relation,  the  Marsh  or  Skullcap  Speedwell  (K. 
scutellata),  on  the  other  hand,  has  long,  very  slender,  acute 
leaves,  their  teeth  far  apart;  and  as  these  three  species  are  the 
only  members  of  their  clan  likely  to  be  found  in  watery  places 
within  our  limits,  a  close  examination  of  the  leaves  of  any  water- 
loving  plant  bearing  small  four-lobed  blue  flowers,  usually 
marked  with  lines  of  a  deeper  blue  or  purple,  should  enable  one 
to  correctly  name  the  species.  None  of  these  blossoms  can  be 
carried  far  after  being  picked  ;  they  have  a  tantalizing  habit  of 
dropping  off,  leaving  a  bouquet  of  tiny  green  calices  chiefly. 

Many  kinds  of  bees,  wasps,  flies,  and  butterflies  fertilize  all 
these  little  flowers,  which  are  first  staminate,  then  pistillate,  simply 
by  crawling  over  them  in  search  of  nectar. 


Common  Speedwell;  Fluellin;  Paul's  Betony ; 
Ground-hele 

(Veronica  officinalis)  Figwort  family 

Flowers— Pale  blue,  very  small,  crowded  on  spike-like  racemes 
from  axils  of  leaves,  often  from  alternate  axils.  Calyx  4-parted ; 
corolla  of  4  lobes,  lower  lobe  commonly  narrowest  ;  2  di- 
vergent stamens  inserted  at  base  and  on  either  side  of  upper 

58 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

corolla  lobe  ;  a  knob-like  stigma  on  solitary  pistil.  Stem: 
From  3  to  10  in.  long,  hairy,  often  prostrate,  and  rooting  at 
joints.  Leaves:  Opposite,  oblong,  obtuse,  saw-edged,  nar- 
rowed at  base.  Fruit:  Compressed  heart-shaped  capsule, 
containing  numerous  flat  seeds. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Dry  fields,  uplands,  open  woods. 

Flowering  Season — May — August. 

Distribution — From  Michigan  and  Tennessee  eastward,  also  from 
Ontario  to  Nova  Scotia.  Probably  an  immigrant  from  Europe 
and  Asia. 

An  ancient  tradition  of  the  Roman  Church  relates  that  when 
Jesus  was  on  His  way  to  Calvary,  He  passed  the  home  of  a  certain 
Jewish  maiden,  who,  when  she  saw  the  drops  of  agony  on  His 
brow,  ran  after  Him  along  the  road  to  wipe  His  face  with  her 
kerchief.  This  linen,  the  monks  declared,  ever  after  bore  the 
impress  of  the  sacred  features — vera  iconica,  the  true  likeness. 
When  the  Church  wished  to  canonize  the  pitying  maiden,  an 
abbreviated  form  of  the  Latin  words  was  given  her,  St.  Veronica, 
and  her  kerchief  became  one  of  the  most  precious  relics  at  St. 
Peter's,  where  it  is  said  to  be  still  preserved.  Mediaeval  flower 
lovers,  whose  piety  seems  to  have  been  eclipsed  only  by  their 
imaginations,  named  this  little  flower  from  a  fancied  resemblance 
to  the  relic.  Of  course,  special  healing  virtue  was  attributed  to 
the  square  of  pictured  linen,  and  since  all  could  not  go  to  Rome  to 
be  cured  by  it,  naturally  the  next  step  was  to  employ  the  common, 
wayside  plant  that  bore  the  saint's  name.  Mental  healers  will  not 
be  surprised  to  learn  that  because  of  the  strong  popular  belief  in  its 
efficacy  to  cure  all  fleshly  ills,  it  actually  seemed  to  possess  miracu- 
lous powers.  For  scrofula  it  was  said  to  be  the  infallible  remedy, 
and  presently  we  find  Linnaeus  grouping  this  flower,  and  all  its 
relatives  under  the  family  name  of  Scrofulariacece.  "  What's  in  a 
name?"  Religion,  theology,  medicine,  folk-lore,  metaphysics, 
what  not? 

One  of  the  most  common  wild  flowers  in  England  is  this 
same  familiar  little  blossom  of  that  lovely  shade  of  blue  known 
by  Chinese  artists  as  "the  sky  after  rain."  "The  prettiest  of  all 
humble  roadside  flowers  I  saw,"  says  Burroughs,  in  "A  Glance 
at  British  Wild  Flowers."  "It  is  prettier  than  the  violet,  and  larger 
and  deeper  colored  them  our  houstonia.  It  is  a  small  and  delicate 
edition  of  our  hepatica,  done  in  indigo  blue,  and  wonted  to  the 
grass  in  the  fields  and  by  the  waysides. 

'  The  little  speedwell's  darling  blue  ' 

sings  Tennyson.     I  saw  it  blooming  with  the  daisy  and  butter- 
cup upon  the  grave  of  Carlyle.     The  tender  human  and  poetic 
element  of  his  stern,  rocky  nature  was  well  expressed  by  it." 
Only  as  it  grows  in  masses  is  the  speedwell  conspicuous — a 

59 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

sufficient  reason  for  its  habit  of  forming  colonies  and  of  gathering 
its  insignificant  blossoms  together  into  dense  spikes,  since  by  these 
methods  it  issues  a  flaunting  advertisement  of  its  nectar.  The 
flower  that  simplifies  dining  for  insects  has  its  certain  reward  in 
rapidly  increased  and  vigorous  descendants.  To  save  repetition, 
the  reader  interested  in  the  process  of  fertilization  is  referred  to 
the  account  of  the  Maryland  figwort,  since  many  members  of  the 
large  family  to  which  both  belong  employ  the  same  method  of 
economizing  pollen  and  insuring  fertile  seed.  In  this  case  visitors 
have  only  to  crawl  over  the  tiny  blossoms. 

From  Labrador  to  Alaska,  throughout  almost  every  section 
of  the  United  States,  in  South  America,  Europe,  and  Asia,  roams 
the  Thyme-leaved  Speedwell  (K.  serpyllifolia),  by  the  help  of  its 
numerous  flat  seeds,  that  are  easily  transported  on  the  wind,  and 
by  its  branching  stem,  that  lies  partly  on  the  ground,  rooting  where 
the  joints  touch  earth.  The  small  oval  leaves,  barely  half  an  inch 
long,  grow  in  pairs.  The  tiny  blue,  or  sometimes  white,  flowers, 
with  dark  pathfinders  to  the  nectary,  are  borne  on  spike-like 
racemes  at  the  ends  of  the  stem  and  branches  that  rear  themselves 
upward  in  fields  and  thickets  to  display  their  bloom  before  the 
passing  bee. 


Pale,    or    Naked,    or    One-flowered    Broom- 
rape 

(Thalesia  uniflord)  Broom-rape  family 
(Aphyllon  uniflorum  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Violet,  rarely  white,  delicately  fragrant,  solitary  at  end 
of  erect,  glandular  peduncles.  Calyx  hairy,  bell-shaped, 
5-toothed,  not  half  the  length  of  corolla,  which  is  i  in.  or 
less  long,  with  curved  tube  spreading  into  2  lips,  5-Iobed, 
yellow-bearded  within  ;  4  stamens,  in  pairs,  inserted  on  tube 
of  corolla  ;  i  pistil.  Stem:  About  i  in.  long,  scaly,  often 
entirely  underground;  the  i  to  4  brownish  scape-like  pe- 
duncles, on  which  flowers  are  borne,  from  3  to  8  in.  high. 
Leaves:  None.  Fruit:  An  elongated,  egg-shaped,  i -celled 
capsule  containing  numerous  seeds. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Damp  woods  and  thickets. 

Flowering  Season — April — June. 

Distribution — British  Possessions  and  United  States  from  coast  to 
coast,  southward  to  Virginia,  and  Texas. 

A  curious,  beautiful  parasite,  fastened  on  the  roots  of  honest 
plants  from  which  it  draws  its  nourishment.      The  ancestors 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

of  this  species,  having  deserted  the  path  of  rectitude  ages  ago  to 
live  by  piracy,  gradually  lost  the  use  of  their  leaves,  upon  which 
virtuous  plants  depend  as  upon  a  part  of  their  digestive  apparatus  ; 
they  grew  smaller  and  smaller,  shrivelled  and  dried,  until  now 
that  the  one-flowered  broom-rape  sucks  its  food,  rendered  already 
digestible  through  another's  assimilation,  no  leaves  remain  on  its 
brownish  scapes.  Disuse  of  any  talent  in  the  vegetable  kingdom, 
as  in  the  spiritual,  leads  to  inevitable  loss  :  "  Unto  every  one  which 
hath  shall  be  given  ;  and  from  him  that  hath  not,  even  that  he  hath 
shall  be  taken  away." 

Hairy  Ruellia 

(Ruellia  ciliosd)  Acanthus  family 

Flowers — Pale  violet  blue,  showy,  about  2  in.  long,  solitary  or 
clustered  in  the  axils  or  at  the  end  of  stem.  Calyx  of  5  bris- 
tle-shaped hairy  segments;  corolla  with  very  slender  tube  ex- 
panding above  in  5  nearly  equal  obtuse  lobes;  stamens  4;  i 
pistil  with  recurved  style.  Stem:  Hairy,  especially  above, 
erect,  i  to  2^  ft.  high.  Leaves :  Opposite,  oblong,  narrowed 
at  apex,  entire,  covered  with  soft  white  hairs. 

Perferred  Habitat—  Dry  soil. 

Flowering  Season — June — September. 

Distribution — New  Jersey  southward  to  the  Gulf  and  westward  to 
Michigan  and  Nebraska. 

Many  charming  ruellias  from  the  tropics  adorn  hothouses 
and  window  gardens  in  winter;  but  so  far  north  as  the  New  Jer- 
sey pine  barrens,  and  westward  where  killing  frosts  occur,  this 
perennial  proves  to  be  perfectly  hardy.  In  addition  to  its  showy 
blossoms,  which  so  successfully  invite  insects  to  transfer  their  pol- 
len, thereby  counteracting  the  bad  effects  of  close  in-breeding,  the 
plant  bears  inconspicuous  cleistogamous  or  blind  ones  also. 
These  look  like  arrested  buds  that  never  open;  but,  being  fertilized 
with  their  own  pollen,  ripen  abundant  seed  nevertheless. 

One  frequently  finds  holes  bitten  in  these  flowers,  as  in  so 
many  others  long  of  tube  or  spur.  Bumblebees,  among  the  most 
intelligent  and  mischievous  of  insects,  are  apt  to  be  the  chief  of- 
fenders; but  wasps  are  guilty  too,  and  the  female  carpenter  bee, 
which  ordinarily  slits  holes  to  extract  nectar,  has  been  detected 
in  the  act  of  removing  circular  pieces  of  the  corolla  from  this  ruel- 
lia  with  which  to  plug  up  a  thimble-shaped  tube  in  some  decayed 
tree.  Here  she  deposits  an  egg  on  top  of  a  layer  of  baby  food, 
consisting  of  a  paste  of  pollen  and  nectar,  and  seals  up  the  nursery 
with  another  bit  of  leaf  or  flower,  repeating  the  process  until  the 
long  tunnel  is  filled  with  eggs  and  food  for  larvae.  Then  she  dies, 
leaving  her  entire  race  apparently  extinct,  and  living  only  in  em- 

61 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

bryo  for  months.     This  is  the  bee  which  commonly  cuts  her 
round  plugs  from  rose  leaves. 

The  Smooth  Ruellia  (R.  strepens),  an  earlier  bloomer  than  the 
preceding,  and  with  a  more  southerly  range,  has  a  shorter, 
thicker  tube  to  its  handsome  blue  flower,  and  lacks  the  hairs 
which  guard  its  relative  from  crawling  pilferers. 


Bluets;    Innocence;    Houstonia;    Quaker 
Ladies;  Quaker  Bonnets;  Venus'  Pride 

(Houstonia  c&rulea)  Madder  family 

Flowers — Very  small,  light  to  purplish  blue  or  white,  with  yellow 
centre,  and  borne  at  end  of  each  erect  slender  stem  that  rises 
from  3  to  7  in.  high.  Corolla  funnel-shaped,  with  4  oval, 
pointed,  spreading  lobes  that  equal  the  slender  tube  in 
length;  rarely  the  corolla  has  more  divisions;  4  stamens  in- 
serted on  tube  of  corolla;  2  stigmas;  calyx  4-lobed.  Leaves : 
Opposite,  seated  on  stem,  oblong,  tiny ;  the  lower  ones  spatu- 
late.  Fruit:  A  2-lobed  pod,  broader  than  long,  its  upper 
half  free  from  calyx  ;  seeds  deeply  concave.  Roolstock : 
Slender,  spreading,  forming  dense  tufts. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Moist  meadows,  wet  rocks  and  banks. 

Flowering  Season — April— July,  or  sparsely  through  summer. 

Distribution — Eastern  Canada  and  United  States  west  to  Michigan, 
south  to  Georgia  and  Alabama. 

Millions  of  these  dainty  wee  flowers,  scattered  through  the 
grass  of  moist  meadows  and  by  the  wayside,  reflect  the  blue 
and  the  serenity  of  heaven  in  their  pure,  upturned  faces.  Where 
the  white  variety  grows,  one  might  think  a  light  snowfall  had 
powdered  the  grass,  or  a  milky  way  of  tiny  floral  stars  had 
streaked  a  terrestrial  path.  Linnaeus  named  the  flower  for  Dr. 
Houston,  a  young  English  physician,  botanist,  and  collector,  who 
died  in  South  America  in  1733,  after  an  exhausting  tramp  about 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

To  secure  cross-fertilization,  the  object  toward  which  so  much 
marvellous  fioral  organism  is  directed,  this  little  plant  puts  forth 
two  forms  of  blossoms — one  with  the  stamens  in  the  lower 
portion  of  the  corolla  tube,  and  the  stigmas  exserted;  the  other 
form  with  the  stigmas  below,  and  the  stamens  elevated  to  the 
mouth  of  the  corolla.  But  the  two  kinds  do  not  grow  in  the 
same  patch,  seed  from  either  producing  after  its  kind.  Many 
insects  visit  these  blossoms,  but  chiefly  small  bees  and  butter- 
flies. Conspicuous  among  the  latter  is  the  common  little  meadow 
fritillary  (Brenthis  bellona),  whose  tawny,  dark-speckled  wings 

62 


CARD    TEASEL 
(Difsacus  sylvestris} 


HAREBELL 
(Campanula  rotundi folia) 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

expand  and  close  in  apparent  ecstasy  as  he  tastes  the  tiny  drop  of 
nectar  in  each  dainty  enamelled  cup.  Coming  to  feast  with  his 
tongue  dusted  from  anthers  nearest  the  nectary,  he  pollenizes 
the  large  stigmas  of  a  short-styled  blossom  without  touching  its 
tall  anthers.  But  it  is  evident  that  he  could  not  be  depended  on 
to  fertilize  the  long-styled  form,  with  its  smaller  stigma,  because  of 
this  ability  to  insert  his  slender  tongue  from  the  side  where  it 
avoids  contact.  Flies  and  beetles  enter  the  blossoms,  but  small 
bees  are  best  adapted  as  all-round  benefactors.  This  simple-look- 
ing blossom,  that  measures  barely  half  an  inch  across,  is  clever 
enough  to  multiply  its  lovely  species  a  thousand  fold,  while  many 
a  larger,  and  therefore  one  might  suppose  a  wiser,  flower  dwindles 
toward  extinction. 

John  Burroughs  found  a  single  bluet  in  blossom  one  January, 
near  Washington,  when  the  clump  of  earth  on  which  it  grew 
was  frozen  solid.  A  pot  of  roots  gathered  in  autumn  and  placed 
in  a  sunny  window  has  sent  up  a  little  colony  of  star-like  flowers 
throughout  a  winter.  (Illustration,  p.  28.) 


Wild,  Common,  or  Card  Teazel ;  Gypsy  Combs 

(Dipsacus  sylvestris)  Teazel  family 

Flowers — Purple  or  lilac,  small,  packed  in  dense,  cylindric  heads,  3 
to  4  in.  long ;  growing  singly  on  ends  of  footstalks,  the  flowers 
set  among  stiffly  pointed,  slender  scales.  Calyx  cup-shaped, 
4-toothed.  Corolla  4-lobed ;  stamens  4;  leaves  of  involucre, 
slender,  bristled,  curved  upward  as  high  as  flower-head  or 
beyond.  Stems:  3  to  6  ft.  high,  stout,  branched,  leafy,  with 
numerous  short  prickles.  Leaves:  Opposite,  lance-shaped, 
seated  on  stem,  with  bristles  along  the  stout  midrib. 

Preferred  Habitat — Roadsides  and  waste  places. 

Floivering  Season — J  uly — September. 

Distribution — Maine  to  Virginia,  westward  to  Ontario  and  the 
Mississippi.  Europe  and  Asia. 

Manufacturers  find  that  no  invention  can  equal  the  natural 
teazel  head  for  raising  a  nap  on  woollen  cloth,  because  it  breaks 
at  any  serious  obstruction,  whereas  a  metal  substitute,  in  such  a 
case,  tears  the  material.  Accordingly,  the  plant  is  largely  culti- 
vated in  the  west  of  England,  and  quantities  that  have  been  im- 
ported from  France  and  Germany  may  be  seen  in  wagons  on  the 
way  to  the  factories  in  any  of  the  woollen-trade  towns.  After 
the  flower-heads  wither,  the  stems  are  cut  about  eight  inches  long, 
stripped  of  prickles,  to  provide  a  handle,  and  after  drying,  the  natu- 
ral tool  is  ready  for  use. 

Bristling  with  armor,  the  teazel  is  not  often  attacked  by  brows- 

63 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

ing  cattle.  Occasionally  even  the  upper  leaf  surfaces  are  dotted 
over  with  prickles  enough  to  tear  a  tender  tongue.  This  is  a 
curious  feature,  for  prickles  usually  grow  out  of  veins.  In  the 
receptacle  formed  where  the  bases  of  the  upper  leaves  grow  to- 
gether, rain  and  dew  are  found  collected — a  certain  cure  for  warts, 
country  people  say.  Venus'  Cup,  Bath,  or  Basin,  and  Water 
Thistle,  are  a  few  of  the  teazel's  folk  names  earned  by  its  curious 
little  tank.  In  it  many  small  insects  are  drowned,  and  these  are 
supposed  to  contribute  nourishment  to  the  plant;  for  Mr.  Francis 
Darwin  has  noted  that  protoplasmic  filaments  reach  out  into  the 
liquid. 

Owing  to  the  stiff  spines  which  radiate  from  the  flower  clus- 
ter, the  bumblebees,  which  principally  fertilize  it,  can  reach  the 
florets  only  with  their  heads,  and  not  pollenize  them  by  merely 
crawling  over  them  as  in  the  true  composite.  But  by  first  matur- 
ing its  anthers,  then  when  they  have  shed  their  pollen,  elevating 
its  stigmas,  the  teazel  prevents  self-fertilization. 


Harebell  or  Hairbell;  Blue  Bells  of  Scotland; 
Lady's  Thimble 

(Campanula  rotundifolia]  Bellflower  family 

Flowers — Bright  blue  or  violet  blue,  bell-shaped,  y2  in.  long  or 
over,  drooping  from  hair-like  stalks.  Calyx  of  s-pointed, 
narrow,  spreading  lobes  ;  5  slender  stamens  alternate  with 
lobes  of  corolla,  and  borne  on  summit  of  calyx  tube,  which  is 
adherent  to  ovary;  i  pistil  with  3  stigmas  in  maturity  only. 
Stem :  Very  slender,  6  in.  to  3  ft.  high,  often  several  from 
same  root  ;  simple  or  branching.  Leaves :  Lower  ones 
nearly  round,  usually  withered  and  gone  by  flowering  sea- 
son ;  stem  leaves  narrow,  pointed,  seated  on  stem.  Fruit: 
An  egg-shaped,  pendent,  j-celled  capsule  with  short  open- 
ings near  base;  seeds  very  numerous,  tiny. 

Preferred  Habitat — Moist  rocks,  uplands. 

Flowering  Season — June — September. 

Distribution — Arctic  regions  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  America ;  south- 
ward on  this  continent,  through  Canada  to  New  Jersey  and 
Pennsylvania;  westward  to  Nebraska,  to  Arizona  in  the 
Rockies,  and  to  California  in  the  Sierra  Nevadas. 

The  inaccessible  crevice  of  a  precipice,  moist  rocks  sprayed 
with  the  dashing  waters  of  a  lake  or  some  tumbling  mountain 
stream,  wind-swept  upland  meadows,  and  shady  places  by  the 
roadside  may  hold  bright  bunches  of  these  hardy  bells,  swaying 
with  exquisite  grace  on  tremulous,  hair-like  stems  that  are  fitted 
to  withstand  the  fiercest  mountain  blasts,  however  frail  they  appear. 

64 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

How  dainty,  slender,  tempting  these  little  flowers  are!  One  gladly 
risks  a  watery  grave  or  broken  bones  to  bring  down  a  bunch 
from  its  aerial  cranny. 

It  was  a  long  stride  forward  in  the  evolutionary  scale  when 
the  harebell  welded  its  five  once  separate  petals  together;  first  at 
the  base,  then  farther  and  farther  up  the  sides,  until  a  solid  bell- 
shaped  structure  resulted.  This  arrangement  which  makes  insect 
fertilization  a  more  certain  process  because  none  of  the  pollen  is 
lost  through  apertures,  and  because  the  visitor  must  enter  the 
flower  only  at  the  vital  point  where  the  stigmas  come  in  contact 
with  his  pollen-laden  body,  has  given  to  all  the  flowers  that  have 
attained  to  it,  marked  ascendency. 

Like  most  inverted  blossoms,  the  harebell  hangs  its  head  to 
protect  its  nectar  and  pollen,  not  only  from  rain,  but  from  the  in- 
trusion of  undesirable  crawling  insects  which  would  simply  brush 
off  its  pollen  in  the  grass  before  reaching  the  pistil  of  another 
flower,  and  so  defeat  cross-fertilization,  the  end  and  aim  of  so 
many  blossoms.  Advertising  for  winged  insects  by  its  bright 
color,  the  harebell  attracts  bees,  butterflies,  and  many  others. 
These  visitors  cannot  well  walk  on  the  upright  petals,  and  sooner  or 
later  must  clasp  the  pistil  if  they  would  secure  the  nectar  secreted 
at  the  base.  In  doing  so,  they  will  dust  themselves  and  the  imma- 
ture pistil  with  the  pollen  from  the  surrounding  anthers  ;  but  a 
newly  opened  flower  is  incapable  of  fertilization.  The  pollen, 
although  partially  discharged  in  the  unopened  bud,  is  prevented 
from  falling  out  by  a  coat  of  hairs  on  the  upper  part  of  the  style. 
By  the  time  all  the  pollen  has  been  removed  by  visitors,  however, 
and  the  stamens  which  matured  early  have  withered,  the  pistil 
has  grown  longer,  until  it  looks  like  the  clapper  in  a  bell;  the 
stigma  at  its  top  has  separated  into  three  horizontal  lobes  which, 
being  sticky  on  the  under  side,  a  pollen-laden  insect  on  entering 
the  bell  must  certainly  brush  against  them  and  render  them 
fertile.  But  humblebees,  its  chief  benefactors,  and  others  may 
not  have  done  their  duty  by  the  flower;  what  then  ?  Why,  the 
stigmas  in  that  case  finally  bend  backward  to  reach  the  left-over 
pollen,  and  fertilize  themselves,  obviously  the  next  best  thing  for 
them  to  do.  How  one's  reverence  increases  when  one  begins  to 
understand,  be  it  ever  so  little  of,  the  divine  plan ! 

"  Probably  the  most  striking  blue  and  purple  wild  flowers 
we  have,"  says  John  Burroughs,  "are  of  European  origin.  These 
colors,  except  with  the  fall  asters  and  gentians,  seem  rather  un- 
stable in  our  flora."  This  theory  is  certainly  borne  out  in  the 
case  of  the  Rampion,  European,  or  Creeping  Bellflower  (C.  rapun- 
culoides),  now  detected  in  the  act  of  escaping  from  gardens  from 
New  Brunswick  to  Ontario,  Southern  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
and  Ohio,  and  making  itself  very  much  at  home  in  our  fields  and 
along  the  waysides.  Compared  with  the  delicate  little  harebell,  it  is 

5  65 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

a  plant  of  rank,  rigid  habit.  Its  erect,  rather  stout  stem,  set  with 
elongated  oval,  hairy,  alternate  leaves,  and  crowned  with  a  one- 
sided raceme  of  widely  expanded,  purple-blue  bells  rising  about 
two  feet  above  the  ground,  has  little  of  the  exquisite  grace  of  its 
cousin.  It  blooms  from  July  to  September.  This  is  the  species 
whose  roots  are  eaten  by  the  omnivorous  European  peasant. 

One  of  the  few  native  campanulas,  the  Tall  Bellflower  (C. 
Americana),  waves  long,  slender  wands  studded  with  blue  or 
sometimes  whitish  flowers  high  above  the  ground  of  moist 
thickets  and  woods  throughout  the  eastern  half  of  this  country, 
but  rarely  near  the  sea.  Doubtless  the  salt  air,  which  intensifies 
the  color  of  so  many  flowers,  would  brighten  its  rather  slatey  blue. 
The  corolla,  which  is  flat,  round,  about  an  inch  across,  and  deeply 
cleft  into  five  pointed  petals,  has  the  effect  of  a  miniature  pinwheel 
in  motion.  Mature  flowers  have  the  style  elongated,  bent  down- 
ward, then  curved  upward,  that  the  stigmas  may  certainly  be  in 
the  way  of  the  visiting  insect  pollen-laden  from  an  earlier 
bloomer,  and  be  cross-fertilized.  The  larger  bees,  its  benefactors, 
which  visit  it  for  nectar,  touch  only  the  upper  side  of  the  style, 
on  which  they  must  alight  ;  but  the  anthers  waste  pollen  by 
shedding  it  on  all  sides.  No  insect  can  take  shelter  from  rain  or 
pass  the  night  in  this  flower,  as  he  frequently  does  in  its  more 
hospitable  relative,  the  harebell.  English  gardeners,  more  appre- 
ciative than  our  own  of  our  native  flora,  frequently  utilize  this 
charming  plant  in  their  rockwork,  increasing  their  stock  by  a 
division  of  the  dense,  leafy  rosettes. 

Venus'  Looking-glass;  Clasping  Bellflower 

(Legou^ia  perfoliata)  Bellflower  family 
(Specularia  perfoliata  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Violet  blue,  from  /^  to  Y\  in.  across  ;  solitary  or  2  or  3 
together,  seated,  in  axils  of  upper  leaves.  Calyx  lobes  vary- 
ing from  3  to  5  in  earlier  and  later  flowers,"  acute,  rigid  ; 
corolla  a  ^-spoked  wheel  ;  5  stamens  ;  i  pistil  with  3  stig- 
mas. Stem:  6  in.  to  2  ft.  long,  hairy,  densely  leafy,  slender, 
weak.  Leaves:  Round,  clasped  about  stem  by  heart-shaped 
base. 

Preferred  Habitat — Sterile  waste  places,  dry  woods. 

Flowering  Season — May — September. 

Distribution — From  British  Columbia,  Oregon,  and  Mexico,  east  to 
Atlantic  Ocean. 

At  the  top  of  a  gradually  lengthened  and  apparently  over- 
burdened leafy  stalk,  weakly  leaning  upon  surrounding  vegeta- 

66 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

tion,  a  few  perfect  blossoms  spread  their  violet  wheels,  while 
below  them  insignificant  earlier  flowers,  which,  although  they 
have  never  opened,  nor  reared  their  heads  above  the  hollows  of 
the  little  shell-like  leaves  where  they  lie  secluded,  have,  never- 
theless, been  producing  seed  without  imported  pollen  while 
their  showy  sisters  slept.  But  trj-e  later  blooms,  by  attracting 
insects,  set  cross-fertilized  seed  to  counteract  any  evil  tendencies 
that  might  weaken  the  species  if  it  depended  upon  self-fertiliza- 
tion only.  When  the  European  Venus'  looking-glass  used  to  be 
cultivated  in  gardens  here,  our  grandmothers  tell  us  it  was  alto- 
gether too  prolific,  crowding  out  of  existence  its  less  fruitful,  but 
more  lovely,  neighbors. 

The  Small  Venus'  Looking-glass  (L.  biflora),  of  similar  habit 
to  the  preceding,  but  with  egg-shaped  or  oblong  leaves  seated  on, 
not  clasping,  its  smooth  and  very  slender  stem,  grows  in  the 
South  and  westward  to  California. 

Great  Lobelia;    Blue  Cardinal-flower 

(Lobelia  syphilitica)  Bellflower  family 

Flowers — Bright  blue,  touched  with  white,  fading  to  pale  blue, 
about  i  in.  long,  borne  on  tall,  erect,  leafy  spike.  Calyx  5- 
parted,  the  lobes  sharply  cut,  hairy.  Corolla  tubular,  open  to 
base  on  one  side,  2-lipped,  irregularly  5-lobed,  the  petals  pro- 
nounced at  maturity  only.  Stamens  5,  united  by  their  hairy 
anthers  into  a  tube  around  the  style;  larger  anthers  smooth. 
Stem:  i  to  3  ft.  high,  stout,  simple,  leafy,  slightly  hairy. 
Leaves:  Alternate,  oblong,  tapering,  pointed,  irregularly 
toothed,  2  to  6  in.  long,  ^  to  2  in.  wide. 

Preferred  Habitat — Moist  or  wet  soil ;  beside  streams. 

Flowering  Season — July — October. 

Distribution — Ontario  and  northern  United  States  west  to  Dakota, 
south  to  Kansas  and  Georgia. 

To  the  evolutionist,  ever  on  the  lookout  for  connecting  links, 
the  lobelias  form  an  interesting  group,  because  their  corolla,  slit 
down  the  upper  side  and  somewhat  flattened,  shows  the  begin- 
ning of  the  tendency  toward  the  strap  or  ray  flowers  that  are 
nearly  confined  to  the  composites  of  much  later  development, 
of  course,  than  tubular  single  blossoms.  Next  to  massing  their 
flowers  in  showy  heads,  as  the  composites  do,  the  lobelias  have 
the  almost  equally  advantageous  plan  of  crowding  theirs  along  a 
stem  so  as  to  make  a  conspicuous  advertisement  to  attract  the 
passing  bee  and  to  offer  him  the  special  inducement  of  numerous 
feeding  places  close  together. 

The  handsome  Great  Lobelia,  constantly  and  invidiously  com« 
67 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

pared  with  its  gorgeous  sister  the  cardinal  flower,  suffers  un- 
fairly. When  asked  what  his  favorite  color  was,  Eugene  Field 
replied:  "  Why,  I  like  any  color  at  all  so  long  as  it's  red  !"  Most 
men,  at  least,  agree  with  him,  and  certainly  humming-birds  do; 
our  scarcity  of  red  flowers  being  due,  we  must  believe,  to  the 
scarcity  of  humming-birds,  wtoich  chiefly  fertilize  them.  But  how 
bees  love  the  blue  blossoms! 

There  are  many  cases  where  the  pistil  of  a  flower  necessarily 
comes  in  contact  with  its  own  pollen,  yet  fertilization  does  not 
take  place,  however  improbable  this  may  appear.  Most  orchids, 
for  example,  are  not  susceptible  to  their  own  pollen.  It  would 
seem  as  if  our  lobelia,  in  elevating  its  stigma  through  the  ring 
formed  by  the  united  anthers,  must  come  in  contact  with  some  of 
the  pollen  they  have  previously  discharged  from  their  tips,  not 
only  on  the  bumblebee  that  shakes  it  out  of  them  when  he  jars 
the  flower,  but  also  within  the  tube.  But  when  the  anthers  are 
mature,  the  two  lobes  of  the  still  immature  stigma  are  pressed 
together,  and  cannot  be  fertilized.  Nevertheless,  the  hairy  tips  of 
some  of  the  anthers  brush  off  the  pollen  grains  that  may  have 
lodged  on  the  stigma  as  it  passes  through  the  ring  in  its  ascent, 
thus  making  surety  doubly  sure.  Only  after  the  stigma  projects 
beyond  the  ring  of  anthers  does  it  expand  its  lobes,  which  are  now 
ready  to  receive  pollen  brought  from  another  later  flower  by  the 
incoming  bumblebee  to  which  it  is  adapted. 

Linnaeus  named  this  group  of  plants  for  Matthias  de  1'Obel,  a 
Flemish  botanist,  or  herbalist  more  likely,  who  became  physician 
to  James  I.  of  England. 

Preferably  in  dry,  sandy  soil  or  in  meadows,  and  over  a  wide 
range,  the  slender,  straight  shoots  of  Pale  Spiked  Lobelia  (L.  spi- 
catd)  bloom  early  and  throughout  the  summer  months,  the  in- 
florescence itself  sometimes  reaching  a  height  of  two  feet.  At 
the  base  of  the  plant  there  is  usually  a  tuft  of  broadly  oblong 
leaves;  those  higher  up  narrow  first  into  spoon-shaped,  then  into 
pointed,  bracts,  along  the  thick  and  gradually  lengthened  spike  of 
scattered  bloom.  The  flowers  are  often  pale  enough  to  be  called 
white.  Like  their  relatives,  they  first  ripen  their  anthers  to  prevent 
self-fertilization. 

The  lithe,  graceful  little  Brook  Lobelia  (L.  Kalmii),  whose 
light-blue  flowers,  at  the  end  of  thread-like  footstems,  form  a  loose 
raceme,  sways  with  a  company  of  its  fellows  among  the  grass  on 
wet  banks,  beside  meadow  runnels  and  brooks,  particularly  in 
limestone  soil,  from  Nova  Scotia  to  the  Northwest  Territory  and 
southward  to  New  Jersey.  It  bears  an  insignificant  capsule,  not 
inflated  like  the  Indian  tobacco's;  and  long,  narrow,  spoon-shaped 
leaves.  Twenty  inches  is  the  greatest  height  this  little  plant  may 
hope  to  attain. 

68 


?rom  Blue  to  Purple 

Not  only  beside  water,  and  in  it,  but  often  totally  immersed, 
grows  the  Water  Lobelia  or  Gladiole  (L.  Dortmannd).  The  slender, 
hollow,  smooth  stem  rises  from  a  submerged  tuft  of  round,  hol- 
low, fleshy  leaves  longitudinally  divided  by  a  partition,  and  bears 
at  the  top  a  scattered  array  of  pale-blue  flowers  from  August  to 
September. 


Indian  or  Wild  Tobacco;    Gag-root;  Asthma- 
weed  ;  Bladder-pod  Lobelia 

(Lobelia  inflata)  Bellflower  family 

Flowers—  Pale  blue  or  violet,  small,  borne  at  short  intervals  in 
spike-like  leafy  racemes.  Calyx  5-parted,  its  awl-shaped  lobes 
%  in.  long,  or  as  long  as  the  tubular,  2-lipped,  5-cleft,  corolla 
that  opens  to  base  of  tube  on  upper  side.  Stamens,  5  united 
by  their  hairy  anthers  into  a  ring  around  the  2-lobed  style. 
Stem  :  From  i  to  3  feet  high,  hairy,  very  acrid,  much  branched, 
leafy.  Leaves  :  Alternate,  oblong  or  ovate,  toothed,  the  upper 
ones  acute,  seated  on  stem  ;  lower  ones  obtuse,  petioled,  I  to 
2l/2  in.  long.  Fruit:  A  much  inflated,  rounded,  ribbed,  many 
seeded  capsule. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Dry  fields  and  thickets;  poor  soil. 

Flowering  Season  —  J  uly  —  November. 

Distribution  —  Labrador  westward  to  the  Missouri  River,  south  to 
Arkansas  and  Georgia. 

The  most  stupid  of  the  lower  animals  knows  enough  to  let 
this  poisonous,  acrid  plant  alone;  but  not  so  man,  who  formerly 
made  a  quack  medicine  from  it  in  the  days  when  a  drug  that  set 
one's  internal  organism  on  fire  was  supposed  to  be  especially 
beneficial.  One  taste  of  the  plant  gives  a  realizing  sense  of  its 
value  as  an  emetic.  How  the  red  man  enjoyed  smoking  and 
chewing  the  bitter  leaves,  except  for  the  drowsiness  that  followed, 
is  a  mystery. 

On  account  of  the  smallness  of  its  flowers  and  their  scanti- 
ness, the  Indian  tobacco  is  perhaps  the  least  attractive  of  the  lobe- 
lias, none  of  which  has  so  inflated  a  seed  vessel,  the  distinguish- 
ing characteristic  of  this  common  plant. 


Chicory;  Succory;  Blue  Sailors;  Bunk 

(Cichorium  Intybus}  Chicory  family 

Flower-head—  Bright,  deep  azure  to  gray  blue,   rarely  pinkish  or 
white,  i  to  \Yz  in.  broad,  set  close  to  stem,  often  in  small 
clusters  for  nearly  the  entire  length  ;  each  head  a  composite 
69 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

of  ray  flowers  only,  ^-toothed  at  upper  edge,  and  set  in  a 
flat  green  receptacle.  Stem:  Rigid,  branching,  i  to  3  ft.  high. 
Leaves:  Lower  ones  spreading  on  ground,  3  to  6  in.  long, 
spatulate,  with  deeply  cut  or  irregular  edges,  narrowed  into 
petioles,  from  a  deep  tap-root  ;  upper  leaves  of  stem  and 
branches  minute,  bract-like. 

Preferred  Habitat — Roadsides,  waste  places,  fields. 

Flowering  Season — J  u  ly — O  ct  o  b  e  r . 

Distribution — Common  in  Eastern  United  States  and  Canada,  south 
to  the  Carolinas  ;  also  sparingly  westward  to  Nebraska. 

At  least  the  dried  and  ground  root  of  this  European  invader  is 
known  to  hosts  of  people  who  buy  it  undisguised  or  not,  accord- 
ing as  they  count  it  an  improvement  to  their  coffee  or  a  disagreea- 
ble adulterant.  So  great  is  the  demand  for  chicory  that,  notwith- 
standing its  cheapness,  it  is  often  in  its  turn  adulterated  with 
roasted  wheat,  rye,  acorns,  and  carrots.  Forced  and  blanched  in  a 
warm,  dark  place,  the  bitter  leaves  find  a  ready  market  as  a  salad 
known  as  "barbe  de  Capucin  "  by  the  fanciful  French.  Endive 
and  dandelion,  the  chicory's  relatives,  appear  on  the  table  too,  in 
spring,  where  people  have  learned  the  possibilities  of  salads,  as 
they  certainly  have  in  Europe. 

From  the  depth  to  which  the  tap-root  penetrates,  it  is  not  un- 
likely the  succory  derived  its  name  from  the  Latin  succurrere  = 
to  run  under.  The  Arabic  name  chicourey  testifies  to  the  almost 
universal  influence  of  Arabian  physicians  and  writers  in  Europe 
after  the  Conquest.  As  chicoree,  achicoria,  chicoria,  cicorea, 
chicorie,  cichorei,  cihorie,  tsikorei,  and  cicorie  the  plant  is  known 
respectively  to  the  French,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italians,  Germans, 
Dutch,  Swedes,  Russians,  and  Danes. 

On  cloudy  days  or  in  the  morning  only  throughout  midsum- 
mer the  "peasant  posy  "  opens  its  "dear  blue  eyes" 

"Where  tired  feet 
Toil  to  and  fro  ; 
Where  flaunting  Sin 
May  see  thy  heavenly  hue, 
Or  weary  Sorrow  look  from  thee 
Toward  a  tenderer  blue  !  " 

— MARGARET  DELANO. 

In  his  "  Humble  Bee  "  Emerson,  too,  sees  only  beauty  in  the 

"Succory  to  match  the  sky  ;  " 

but,  mirabile  dictu,  Vergil,  rarely  caught  in  a  prosaic,  practical 
mood,  wrote, 

"  And  spreading  succ'ry  chokes  the  rising  field." 
70 


From  Blue  to  Purple 


Iron-weed ;  Flat  Top 

(yernonia  Noveboracensis)  Thistle  family. 

Flower-head—  Composite  of  tubular  florets  only,  intense  reddish- 
purple  thistle-like  heads,  borne  on  short,  branched  peduncles 
and  forming  broad,  flat  clusters  ;  bracts  of  involucre,  brown- 
ish purple,  tipped  with  awl-shaped  bristles.  Stem :  3  to  9  ft. 
high,  rough  or  hairy,  branched.  Leaves:  Alternate,  narrowly 
oblong  or  lanceolate,  saw-edged,  3  to  10  in.  long,  rough. 

Preferred  Habitat — Moist  soil,  meadows,  fields. 

Flowering  Season — J uly— September. 

Distribution — Massachusetts  to  Georgia,  and  westward  to  the 
Mississippi. 

Emerson  says  a  weed  is  a  plant  whose  virtues  we  have  not 
yet  discovered  ;  but  surely  it  is  no  small  virtue  in  the  iron-weed 
to  brighten  the  roadsides  and  low  meadows  throughout  the  sum- 
mer with  bright  clusters  of  bloom.  When  it  is  on  the  wane,  the 
asters,  for  which  it  is  sometimes  mistaken,  begin  to  appear,  but 
an  instant's  comparison  shows  the  difference  between  the  two 
flowers.  After  noting  the  yellow  disk  in  the  centre  of  an  aster, 
it  is  not  likely  the  iron-weed's  thistle-like  head  of  ray  florets  only 
will  ever  again  be  confused  with  it.  Another  rank-growing 
neighbor  with  which  it  has  been  confounded  by  the  novice  is  the 
Joe  Pye  weed,  a  far  paler,  pinkish  flower,  as  one  who  does  not 
meet  them  both  afield  may  see  on  comparing  the  colored  plates 
in  this  book. 

To  each  tiny  floret,  secreting  nectar  in  its  tube,  many  insects, 
attracted  by  the  bright  color  of  the  iron-weed  standing  high 
above  surrounding  vegetation,  come  to  feast.  Long-lipped  bees 
and  flies  rest  awhile  for  refreshment,  but  butterflies  of  many 
beautiful  kinds  are  by  far  the  most  abundant  visitors.  Pollen  car- 
ried out  by  the  long,  hairy  styles  as  they  extend  to  maturity  must 
attach  itself  to  their  tongues.  The  tiger  swallow-tail  butterfly 
appears  to  have  a  special  preference  for  this  flower.  (See  p.  46.) 


Common  or  Scaly  Blazing-  Star;  Colic-root; 
Rattlesnake  Master;  Button  Snakeroot 

(Lacinaria  squarrosa)  Thistle  family 
(Liatris  squarrosa  of  Gray) 

Flower-heads — Composite,  about  I  in.  long,  bright  purple  or  rose 
purple,  of  tubular  florets  only,  from  an  involucre  of  over- 
lapping, rigid;  pointed  bracts  ;  each  of  the  few  flower-heads 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

from  the  leaf  axils  along  a  slender  stem  in  a  wand-like  raceme. 
Stem :  Y?  to  2  ft.  high.  Leaves :  Alternate,  narrow,  entire. 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry,  rich  soil. 

Flowering  Season — June — September. 

Distribution — Ontario  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  westward  to  Ne- 
braska. 

Beginning  at  the  top,  the  apparently  fringed  flower-heads 
open  downward  along  the  wand,  whose  length  depends  upon 
the  richness  of  the  soil.  All  of  the  flowers  are  perfect  and  attract 
long-tongued  bees  and  flies  (especially  Exoprosopa  fasciata)  and 
butterflies,  which,  as  they  sip  from  the  corolla  tube,  receive  the 
pollen  carried  out  and  exposed  on  the  long  divisions  of  the  style. 
Some  people  have  pretended  to  cure  rattlesnake  bites  with  appli- 
cations of  the  globular  tuber  of  this  and  the  next  species. 

The  Large  Button  Snakeroot,  Blue  Blazing  Star,  or  Gay  Feather 
(L.  scariosa),  may  attain  six  feet,  but  usually  not  more  than  half 
that  height;  and  its  round  flower-heads  normally  stand  well  away 
from  the  stout  stem  on  foot-stems  of  their  own.  The  bristling 
scales  of  the  involucre,  often  tinged  with  purple  at  the  tips,  are  a 
conspicuous  feature.  With  much  the  same  range  and  choice  of 
habitat  as  the  last  species,  this  Blazing  Star  is  a  later  bloomer, 
coming  into  flower  in  August,  and  helping  the  golden-rods  and 
asters  brighten  the  landscape  throughout  the  early  autumn.  The 
name  of  gay  feather,  miscellaneously  applied  to  several  blazing 
stars,  is  especially  deserved  by  this  showy  beauty  of  the  family. 

Unlike  others  of  its  class,  the  Dense  Button  Snakeroot,  Devil's 
Bit,  Rough  or  Backache  Root,  Prairie  Pine  or  Thrpatwprt  (L. 
spicata),  the  commonest  species  we  have,  chooses  moist  soil,  even 
salt  marshes  near  the  coast,  and  low  meadows  throughout  a  range 
nearly  corresponding  with  that  of  the  scaly  blazing  star.  Resembling 
its  relatives  in  general  manner  of  growth,  we  note  that  its  oblong 
involucre,  rounded  at  the  base,  has  blunt,  not  sharply  pointed,  bracts ; 
that  the  flower-heads  are  densely  set  close  to  the  wand  for  from 
four  to  fifteen  inches  ;  that  the  five  to  thirteen  bright  rose-purple 
florets  which  compose  each  head  occasionally  come  white  ;  that 
its  leaves  are  long  and  very  narrow,  and  that  October  is  not  too 
late  to  find  the  plant  in  bloom. 

Blue  and  Purple  Asters  or  Starworts 

Thistle  family 

Evolution  teaches  us  that  thistles,  daisies,  sunflowers,  asters, 
and  all  the  triumphant  horde  of  composites  were  once  very  dif- 
ferent flowers  from  what  we  see  to-day.  Through  ages  of  natural 

72 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

selection  of  the  fittest  among  their  ancestral  types,  having  finally 
arrived  at  the  most  successful  adaptation  of  their  various  parts 
to  their  surroundings  in  the  whole  floral  kingdom,  they  are  now 
overrunning  the  earth.  Doubtless  the  aster's  remote  ancestors 
were  simple  green  leaves  around  the  vital  organs,  and  depended 
upon  the  wind,  as  the  grasses  do— a  most  extravagant  method — 
to  transfer  their  pollen.  Then  some  rudimentary  flower  changed 
its  outer  row  of  stamens  into  petals,  which  gradually  took  on 
color  to  attract  insects  and  insure  a  more  economical  method  of 
transfer.  Gardeners  to-day  take  advantage  of  a  blossom's  natural 
tendency  to  change  stamens  into  petals  when  they  wish  to  pro- 
duce double  flowers.  As  flowers  and  insects  developed  side  by 
side,  and  there  came  to  be  a  better  and  better  understanding  be- 
tween them  of  each  other's  requirements,  mutual  adaptation  fol- 
lowed. The  flower  that  offered  the  best  advertisement,  as  the 
composites  do,  by  its  showy  rays  ;  that  secreted  nectar  in  tubu- 
lar flowers  where  no  useless  insect  could  pilfer  it ;  that  fastened 
its  stamens  to  the  inside  wall  of  the  tube  where  they  must  dust 
with  pollen  the  under  side  of  every  insect,  unwittingly  cross-fer- 
tilizing the  blossom  as  he  crawled  over  it ;  that  massed  a  great 
number  of  these  tubular  florets  together  where  insects  might 
readily  discover  them  and  feast  with  the  least  possible  loss  of 
time — this  flower  became  the  winner  in  life's  race.  Small  wonder 
that  our  June  fields  are  white  with  daisies  and  the  autumn  land- 
scape is  glorified  with  golden-rod  and  asters  ! 

Since  North  America  boasts  the  greater  part  of  the  two 
hundred  and  fifty  asters  named  by  scientists,  and  as  varia- 
tions in  many  of  our  common  species  frequently  occur,  the  tyro 
need  expect  no  easy  task  in  identifying  every  one  he  meets  afield. 
However,  the  following  are  possible  acquaintances  to  every  one: 

In  dry,  shady  places  the  Large,  or  Broad-leaved  Aster  (A.  ma- 
crophyllus),  so  called  from  its  three  or  four  conspicuous,  heart- 
shaped  leaves  on  long  petioles,  in  a  clump  next  the  ground,  may 
be  more  easily  identified  by  these  than  by  the  pale  lavender  or 
violet  flower-heads  of  about  sixteen  rays  each  which  crown  its 
reddish  angular  stem  in  August  and  September.  The  disk  turns 
reddish  brown. 

In  prairie  soil,  especially  about  the  edges  of  woods  in  western 
New  York,  southward  and  westward  to  Texas  and  Minnesota, 
the  beautiful  Sky-blue  Aster  (A.  a^ureus)  bleoms  from  August  till 
after  frost.  Its  slender,  stiff,  rough  stem  branches  above  to  display 
the  numerous  bright  blue  flowers,  whose  ten  to  twenty  rays 
measure  only  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  length.  The  upper 
leaves  are  reduced  to  small  flat  bracts  ;  the  next  are  linear  ;  and 
the  lower  ones,  which  approach  a  heart  shape,  are  rough  on  both 
sides,  and  may  be  five  or  six  inches  long. 

Much  more  branched  and  bushy  is  the  Common  Blue,  Branch- 
ing, Wood,  or  Heart-leaved  Aster  (A.  cordifolius),  whose  generous 

73 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

masses  of  small,  pale  lavender  flower-heads  look  like  a  mist  hang- 
ing from  one  to  five  feet  above  the  earth  in  and  about  the  woods 
and  shady  roadsides  from  September  even  to  December  in  favored 
places. 

The  Wavy  or  Various-leaved  Aster  or  Small  Fleabane  (A.  un- 
dulatus)  has  a  stiff,  rough,  hairy,  widely  branching  stalk,  whose 
thick,  rough  lowest  leaves  are  heart-shaped  and  set  on  long  foot- 
stems  ;  above  these,  the  leaves  have  shorter  stems,  dilating  where 
they  clasp  the  stalk;  the  upper  leaves,  lacking  stems,  are  seated 
on  it,  while  those  of  the  branches  are  shaped  like  tiny  awls.  The 
flowers,  which  measure  less  than  an  inch  across,  often  grow 
along  one  side  of  an  axis  as  well  as  in  the  usual  raceme.  Eight 
to  fifteen  pale  blue  to  violet  rays  surround  the  disks  which,  yel- 
low at  first,  become  reddish  brown  in  maturity.  We  find  the 
plant  in  dry  soil,  blooming  in  September  and  October. 

By  no  means  tardy,  the  Late  Purple  Aster,  so-called,  or  Purple 
Daisy  (A.  patens),  begins  to  display  its  purplish-blue,  daisy-like 
flower-heads  early  in  August,  and  farther  north  may  be  found  in 
dry,  exposed  places  only  until  October.  Rarely  the  solitary  flow- 
ers, that  are  an  inch  across  or  more,  are  a  deep,  rich  violet. 
The  twenty  to  thirty  rays  which  surround  the  disk,  curling  in- 
ward to  dry,  expose  the  vase-shaped,  green,  shingled  cups  that 
terminate  each  little  branch.  The  thick,  somewhat  rigid,  oblong 
leaves,  tapering  at  the  tip,  broaden  at  the  base  to  clasp  the  rough, 
slender  stalk.  Range  similar  to  the  next  species. 

Certainly  from  Massachusetts,  northern  New  York,  and  Min- 
nesota southward  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  one  may  expect  to  find 
the  New  England  Aster  or  Starwort  (A.  Novce-Anglice),  one  of  the 
most  striking  and  widely  distributed  of  the  tribe,  in  spite  of  its 
local  name.  It  is  not  unknown  in  Canada.  The  branching  clus- 
ters of  violet  or  magenta-purple  flower-heads,  from  one  to  two 
inches  across — composites  containing  as  many  as  forty  to  fifty 
purple  ray  florets  around  a  multitude  of  perfect  five-lobed,  tubu- 
lar, yellow  disk  florets  in  a  sticky  cup — shine  out  with  royal 
splendor  above  the  swamps,  moist  fields,  and  roadsides  from  Au- 
gust to  October.  The  stout,  bristle-hairy  stem  bears  a  quantity  of 
alternate  lance-shaped  leaves  lobed  at  the  base  where  they  clasp  it. 

In  even  wetter  ground  we  find  the  Red-stalked,  Purple- 
stemmed,  or  Early  Purple  Aster,  Cocash,  Swanweed,  or  Meadow 
Scabish  (A.  puniceus)  blooming  as  early  as  July  or  as  late  as 
November.  Its  stout,  rigid  stem,  bristling  with  rigid  hairs,  may 
reach  a  height  of  eight  feet  to  display  the  branching  clusters  of  pale 
violet  or  lavender  flowers.  The  long,  blade-like  leaves,  usually 
very  rough  above  and  hairy  along  the  midrib  beneath,  are  seated 
on  the  stem. 

The  lovely  Smooth  or  Blue  Aster  (A.  Icevis),  whose  sky-blue 
or  violet  flower-heads,  about  one  inch  broad,  are  common  through 
September  and  October  in  dry  soil  and  open  woods,  has  strongly 

74 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

clasping,  oblong,  tapering  leaves,  rough  margined,  but  rarely  with 
a  saw-tooth,  toward  the  top  of  the  stem,  while  those  low  down 
on  it  gradually  narrow  into  clasping  wings. 

In  dry,  sandy  soil,  mostly  near  the  coast,  from  Massachusetts 
to  Delaware,  grows  one  of  the  loveliest  of  all  this  beautiful  clan, 
the  Low,  Showy,  or  Seaside  Purple  Aster  (A.  spectabtiis).  The  stiff, 
usually  unbranched  stem  does  its  best  in  attaining  a  height  of 
two  feet.  Above,  the  leaves  are  blade-like  or  narrowly  oblong, 
seated  on  the  stem,  whereas  the  tapering,  oval  basal  leaves  are 
furnished  with  long  footstems,  as  is  customary  with  most  asters. 
The  handsome,  bright,  violet-purple  flower-heads,  measuring 
about  an  inch  and  a  half  across,  have  from  fifteen  to  thirty  rays, 
or  only  about  half  as  many  as  the  familiar  New  England  aster. 
Season  :  August  to  November. 

The  low-growing  Bog  Aster  (A.  nemoralts),  not  to  be  con- 
fused with  the  much  taller  Red-stalked  species  often  found  growing 
in  the  same  swamp,  and  having,  like  it,  flower-heads  measuring 
about  an  inch  and  a  half  across,  has  rays  that  vary  from  light  vio- 
let purple  to  rose  pink.  Its  oblong  to  lance-shaped  leaves,  only 
two  inches  long  at  best,  taper  to  a  point  at  both  ends,  and  are  seated 
on  the  stem.  We  look  for  this  aster  in  sandy  bogs  from  New 
Jersey  northward  and  westward  during  August  and  September. 

The  Stiff  or  Savory-leaved  Aster,  Sandpaper;  or  Pine  Starwort 
(lonactis  linariifolius) ,  now  separated  from  the  other  asters  into 
a  genus  by  itself,  is  a  low,  branching  little  plant  with  no  basal 
leaves,  but  some  that  are  very  narrow  and  blade-like,  rigid,  entire 
and  one-nerved,  ascending  the  stiff  stems.  The  leaves  along  the 
branches  are  minute  and  awl-shaped,  like  those  on  a  branch  of  pine. 
Only  from  ten  to  fifteen  violet  ray  flowers  (pistillate)  surround  the 
perfect  disk  florets.  From  Qjjebec  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and 
westward  beyond  the  Mississippi  this  prim  little  shrub  grows  in 
tufts  on  dry  or  rocky  soil,  and  blooms  from  July  to  October. 


Robin's,  or  Poor  Robin's,  or  Robert's  Plan- 
tain ;  Blue  Spring  Daisy;  Daisy-leaved 
Fleabane 

(Erigeron  pulchellus)  Thistle  family 
(E.  bellifolium  of  Gray) 

Flower-heads — Composite,  daisy-like,  i  to  i  ^  in.  across  ;  the  outer 
circle  of  about  50  pale  bluish-violet  ray  florets;  the  disk  florets 
greenish  yellow.  Stem :  Simple,  erect,  hairy,  juicy,  flexible, 
from  10  in.  to  2  ft.  high,  producing  runners  and  offsets  from 
base.  Leaves:  Spatulate,  in  a  flat  tuft  about  the  root;  stem 
leaves  narrow,  more  acute,  seated,  or  partly  clasping. 

75 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

Preferred  Habitat—  Moist  ground,  hills,  banks,  grassy  fields. 

Flowering  Season — April — June. 

Distribution — United  States  and  Canada,  east  of  the  Mississippi. 

Like  an  aster  blooming  long  before  its  season,  Robin's  plantain 
wears  a  finely  cut  lavender  fringe  around  a  yellow  disk  of  minute 
florets  ;  but  one  of  the  first,  not  the  last,  in  the  long  procession  of 
composites  has  appeared  when  we  see  gay  companies  of  these 
flowers  nodding  their  heads  above  the  grass  in  the  spring  breezes 
as  if  they  were  village  gossips. 

Doubtless  it  was  the  necessity  for  attracting  insects  which 
led  the  Robin's  plantain  and  other  composites  to  group  a  quantity 
of  minute  florets,  each  one  of  which  was  once  an  independent, 
detached  blossom,  into  a  common  head.  In  union  there  is 
strength.  Each  floret  still  contains,  however,  its  own  tiny  drop 
of  nectar,  its  own  stamens,  its  own  pistil  connected  with  em- 
bryonic seed  below ;  therefore,  when  an  insect  alights  where  he 
can  get  the  greatest  amount  of  nectar  for  the  least  effort,  and  turns 
round  and  round  to  exhaust  each  nectary,  he  is  sure  to  dust  the 
pistils  with  pollen,  and  so  fertilize  an  entire  flower-head  in  a  trice. 
The  lavender  fringe  and  the  hairy  involucre  and  stem  serve  the 
end  of  discouraging  crawling  insects,  which  cannot  transfer  pollen 
from  plant  to  plant,  from  pilfering  sweets  that  cannot  be  properly 
paid  for.  Small  wonder  that,  although  the  composites  have 
attained  to  their  socialistic  practices  at  a  comparatively  recent 
day  as  evolutionists  count  time,  they  have  become  as  individuals 
and  as  species  the  most  numerous  in  the  world  ;  the  thistle  family, 
dominant  everywhere,  containing  not  less  than  ten  thousand 
members.  (Illustration,  p.  40.) 

Common  or  Philadelphia  Fleabane,  or  Skevish  (E.  Philadel- 
phicus],  a  smaller  edition  of  Robin's  plantain,  with  a  more  finely 
cut  fringe,  its  reddish-purple  ray  florets  often  numbering  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty,  may  be  found  in  low  fields  and  woods  throughout 
North  America,  except  in  the  circumpolar  regions. 


Thistles 

(Carduus)  Thistle  family 

Is  land  fulfilling  the  primal  curse  because  it  brings  forth 
thistles  ?  So  thinks  the  farmer,  no  doubt,  but  not  the  goldfinches 
which  daintily  feed  among  the  fluffy  seeds,  nor  the  bees,  nor  the 
"painted  lady,"  which  may  be  seen  in  all  parts  of  the  world 
where  thistles  grow,  hovering  about  the  beautiful  rose-purple 
flowers.  In  the  prickly  cradle  of  leaves,  the  caterpillar  of  this 
thistle  butterfly  weaves  a  web  around  its  main  food  store. 

76 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

When  the  Danes  invaded  Scotland,  they  stole  a  silent  night 
march  upon  the  Scottish  camp  by  marching  barefoot;  but  a  Dane 
inadvertently  stepped  on  a  thistle,  and  his  sudden,  sharp  cry, 
arousing  the  sleeping  Scots,  saved  them  and  their  country:  hence 
the  Scotch  emblem. 

From  July  to  November  blooms  the  Common,  Burr,  Spear, 
Plume,  Bank,  Horse,  Bull,  Blue,  Button,  Bell,  or  Roadside  Thistle 
(C.  lanceolatus  or  Circium  lanceolatum  of  Gray),  a  native  of  Europe 
and  Asia,  now  a  most  thoroughly  naturalized  American  from  New- 
foundland to  Georgia,  westward  to  Nebraska.  Its  violet  flower- 
heads,  about  an  inch  and  a  half  across,  and  as  high  as  wide,  are 
mostly  solitary  at  the  ends  of  formidable  branches,  up  which  few 
crawling  creatures  venture.  But  in  the  deep  tube  of  each  floret 
there  is  nectar  secreted  for  the  flying  visitor  who  can  properly 
transfer  pollen  from  flower  to  flower.  Such  a  one  suffers  no  in- 
convenience from  the  prickles,  but,  on  the  contrary,  finds  a  larger 
feast  saved  for  him  because  of  them.  Dense,  matted,  wool-like 
hairs,  that  cover  the  bristling  stems  of  most  thistles,  make  climbing 
mighty  unpleasant  for  ants,  which  ever  delight  in  pilfering  sweets. 
Perhaps  one  has  the  temerity  to  start  upward. 

"  Fain  would  I  climb,  yet  fear  1  to  fall." 
"  If  thy  heart  fail  thee,  climb  not  at  all," 

might  be  the  ant's  passionate  outburst  to  the  thistle,  and  the 
thistle's  reply,  instead  of  a  Sir  Walter  and  Queen  Elizabeth  coup- 
let. Long,  lance-shaped,  deeply  cleft,  sharply  pointed,  and  prickly 
dark  green  leaves  make  the  ascent  almost  unendurable;  never- 
theless the  ant  bravely  mounts  to  where  the  bristle-pointed,  over- 
lapping scales  of  the  deep  green  cup  hold  the  luscious  flowers. 
Now  his  feet  becoming  entangled  in  the  cottony  fibres  wound 
about  the  scaly  armor,  and  a  bristling  bodyguard  thrusting  spears 
at  him  in  his  struggles  to  escape,  death  happily  releases  him.  All 
this  tragedy  to  insure  the  thistle's  cross-fertilized  seed  that,  seated 
on  the  autumn  winds,  shall  be  blown  far  and  wide  in  quest  of 
happy  conditions  for  the  offspring! 

Sometimes  the  Pasture  or  Fragrant  Thistle  (C.  odoratus  or  C. 
pumilum  of  Gray)  still  further  protects  its  beautiful,  odorous  purple 
or  whitish  flower-head,  that  often  measures  three  inches  across, 
with  a  formidable  array  of  prickly  small  leaves  just  below  it.  In 
case  a  would-be  pilferer  breaks  through  these  lines,  however,  there 
is  a  slight  glutinous  strip  on  the  outside  of  the  bracts  that  compose 
the  cup  wherein  the  nectar-filled  florets  are  packed ;  and  here,  in 
sight  of  Mecca,  he  meets  his  death,  just  as  a  bird  is  caught  on  limed 
twigs.  The  pasture  thistle,  whose  range  is  only  from  Maine  to 
Delaware,  blooms  from  July  to  September. 

Even  gentle  Professor  Gray  hurls  anathema  at  the  Canada 
ThistJe  ;  "a  vile  pest"  he  calls  it.  As  Cursed,  Corn,  Hard,  and 

77 


From  Blue  to  Purple 

Creeping  Thistle  it  is  variously  known  here  and  in  Europe,  whence 
it  came  to  overrun  our  land  from  Newfoundland  to  Virginia,  west- 
ward to  Nebraska.  By  horizontal  rootstocks  it  creeps  and  forms 
patches  almost  impossible  to  eradicate.  The  small  reddish-pur- 
ple flower-heads,  barely  an  inch  across,  usually  contain  about  a 
hundred  florets  each.  In  their  tubes  the  abundant  nectar  rises 
high,  so  that  numerous  insects,  even  with  the  shortest  tongues, 
are  able  to  enjoy  it.  Not  only  bees  and  butterflies,  but  wasps, 
flies,  and  beetles  feast  diligently.  When  a  floret  opens,  a  quantity 
of  pollen  emerges  at  the  upper  end  of  the  anther  cylinder,  pressed 
up  by  the  growing  style.  Owing  to  their  slight  stickiness  and  the 
sharp  processes  over  their  entire  surface,  the  pollen  grains,  which 
readily  cling  to  the  hairs  of  insects,  are  transported  to  the  two- 
branched,  hairy  stigma  of  an  older  floret.  But  even  should  insects 
not  visit  the  flower  (and  in  fine  weather  they  swarm  about  it),  it  is 
marvellously  adapted  to  fertilize  itself.  Farmers  may  well  despair 
of  exterminating  a  plant  so  perfectly  equipped  in  every  part  to 
win  life's  battles. 


"  The  colour  of  purple  .  .  .  was,  amongst  the  ancients,  typical 
of  royalty.  It  was  a  kind  of  red  richly  shot  with  blue,  and  the  dye  pro- 
ducing it  was  attained  from  a  shell  found  in  considerable  numbers  off  the 
coast  of  Tyre,  and  on  the  shore  near  the  site  of  that  ancient  city,  great 
heaps  of  such  shells  are  still  to  be  found.  The  production  of  the  true 
royal  purple  dye  was  a  very  costly  affair,  and  therefore  it  was  often  imi- 
tated with  a  mixture  of  cochineal  and  indigo.  .  .  ." — J.  JAMES  TISSOT. 

As  many  so-called  purple  flowers  are  more  strictly  magenta,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  next  group  if  he  has  not  found  the  flower  for 
which  he  is  in  search  here.  Also  to  the  "White  and  Greenish  "  section, 
since  many  colored  floiuers  show  a  tendency  to  revert  to  the  white  type 
from  which,  doubtless,  all  were  evolved.  He  should  remember  that  all 
flowers  are  more  or  less  variable  in  shade,  according  to  varying  conditions. 


MAGENTA   TO    PINK  FLOWERS 


"  Botany  is  a  sequel  of  murder  and  a  chronicle  of  the  dead" 

—JULIAN  HAWTHORNE. 

"  A  plant  is  not  to  be  studied  as  an  absolutely  dead  thing,  but  rather 
as  a  sentient  being.  .  .  .  To  measure  petals,  to  count  stamens,  to 
describe  pistils  without  reference  to  their  functions,  or  the  why  and 
wherefore  of  their  existence,  is  to  content  one's  self  with  husks  in  the 
presence  of  a  feast  of  fatness — to  listen  to  the  rattle  of  dry  bones  rather 
than  the  heavenly  harmonies  of  life.  We  have  reason  to  be  profoundly 
thankful  for  the  signs  to  be  seen  on  every  side,  that  the  dreary  stuff  which 
was  called  botany  in  the  teaching  of  the  past  will  soon  cease  to  masquer- 
ade in  its  stolen  costume,  and  that  our  children  and  our  children's 
children  will  study  not  dried  specimens  or  drier  books,  but  the  living 
things  which  Nature  furnishes  in  such  profusion. 

"  The  reason  of  this  radical  change  is  not  far  to  seek.  Since  man 
has  learned  that  the  universal  brotherhood  of  life  includes  himself  as  the 
highest  link  in  the  chain  of  organic  creation,  his  interest  in  all  things 
that  live  and  move  and  have  a  being  has  greatly  increased.  The  move- 
ments of  the  monad  now  appeal  to  him  in  a  way  that  was  impossible 
under  the  old  conceptions.  He  sees  in  each  of  the  millions  of  living  forms 
with  which  the  earth  is  teeming,  the  action  of  many  of  the  laws  which  are 
operating  in  himself ;  and  has  learned  that  to  a  great  extent  his  welfare 
is  dependent  on  these  seemingly  insignificant  relations  ;  that  in  ways  un- 
dreamed of  a  century  ago  they  affect  human  progress." 

-CLARENCE  MOORES  WEED. 


79 


MAGENTA  TO   PINK   FLOWERS 

Sessile-leaved  Twisted-stalk 

(Streptopus  roseus)  Lily-of-the-Valley  family 

Flowers — Dull,  purplish  pink,  y*  in.  long  or  less,  solitary,  on  thread- 
like, curved  footstalks  longer  than  the  small  flower  itself, 
nodding  from  leaf-axils.  Perianth  bill-shaped,  of  6  spreading 
segments;  stamens  6,  2-horned  ;  style  spreading  into  3 
branches,  stigmatic  on  inner  side.  Stem:  \  to  2l/2  ft.  high,  sim- 
ple or  forked.  Leaves :  Thin,  alternate,  green  on  both  sides, 
many  nerved,  tapering  at  end,  rounded  at  base,  where  they 
are  seated  on  stem.  Fruit :  A  round,  red,  many-seeded  berry. 

Preferred  Habitat — Moist  woods. 

Flowering  Season — May — July. 

Distribution — North  America  east  and  west,  southward  to  Georgia 
and  Oregon. 

As  we  look  down  on  this  graceful  plant,  no  blossoms  are  visi- 
ble ;  but  if  we  bend  the  zig-zagged  stem  backward,  we  shall  dis- 
cover the  little  rosy  bells  swaying  from  the  base  of  the  leaves  on 
curved  footstalks  (streptos  =  twisted,  pous  —  a  foot  or  stalk)  very 
much  as  the  plant's  relatives  the  Solomon's  seals  grow.  In  the 
confident  expectation  of  having  its  seeds  dropped  far  and  wide,  it 
bears  showy  red  berries  in  August  for  the  birds  now  wandering 
through  the  woods  with  increased,  hungry  families. 

The  Clasping-leaved  Twisted-stalk  (S,  amplexifolius),  which 
has  one  or  two  greenish-white  bells  nodding  from  its  axils,  may 
be  distinguished  when  not  in  flower  by  its  leaves,  which  are 
hoary — not  green — on  the  under  side,  or  by  its  oval  berry.  In- 
deed most  plants  living  in  wet  soil  have  a  coating  of  down  on  the 
under  sides  of  their  leaves  to  prevent  the  pores  from  clogging 
with  rising  vapors. 

Moccasin  Flower;  Pink,  Venus',  or  Stemless 
Lady's  Slipper 

(Cypripediwn  acaule)  Orchid  family 

Flowers — Fragrant,  solitary,  large,  showy,  drooping  from  end  of 
scape,  6  to  12  in.  high'  Sepals  lance-shaped,  spreading,  green- 
6  81 


Magenta  to  Pink 

ish  purple,  2  in.  long  or  less;  petals  narrower  and  longer  than 
sepals.  Lip  an  inflated  sac,  often  over  2  in.  long,  slit  down  the 
middle,  and  folded  inwardly  above,  pale  magenta,  veined  with 
darker  pink  ;  upper  part  of  interior  crested  with  long  white 
hairs.  Stamens  united  with  style  into  unsymmetrical  declined 
column,  bearing  an  anther  on  either  side,  and  a  dilated  tri- 
angular petal-like  sterile  stamen  above,  arching  over  the  broad 
concave  stigma.  Leaves :  2,  from  the  base  ;  elliptic,  thick,  6 
to  8  in.  long. 

Preferred  Habitat — Deep,  rocky,  or  sandy  woods. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution — Canada  southward  to  North  Carolina,  westward  to 
Minnesota  and  Kentucky. 

Because  most  people  cannot  forbear  picking  this  exquisite 
flower  that  seems  too  beautiful  to  be  found  outside  a  millionaire's 
hothouse,  it  is  becoming  rarer  every  year,  until  the  finding  of  one 
in  the  deep  forest,  where  it  must  now  hide,  has  become  the  event 
of  a  day's  walk.  Once  it  was  the  commonest  of  the  orchids. 

"Cross-fertilization,"  says  Darwin,  "results  in  offspring 
which  vanquish  the  offspring  of  self-fertilization  in  the  struggle 
for  existence."  This  has  been  the  motto  of  the  orchid  family  for 
ages.  No  group  of  plants  has  taken  more  elaborate  precautions 
against  self-pollination  or  developed  more  elaborate  and  ingen- 
ious mechanism  to  compel  insects  to  transfer  their  pollen  than 
this. 

The  fissure  down  the  front  of  the  pink  lady's  slipper  is  not 
so  wide  but  that  a  bee  must  use  some  force  to  push  against  its 
elastic  sloping  sides  and  enter  the  large  banquet  chamber  where 
he  finds  generous  entertainment  secreted  among  the  fine  white 
hairs  in  the  upper  part.  Presently  he  has  feasted  enough.  Now 
one  can  hear  him  buzzing  about  inside,  trying  to  find  a  way  out 
of  the  trap.  Toward  the  two  little  gleams  of  light  through  aper- 
tures at  the  end  of  a  passage  beyond  the  nectary  hairs,  he  at 
length  finds  his  way.  Narrower  and  narrower  grows  the  passage 
until  it  would  seem  as  if  he  could  never  struggle  through  ;  nor 
can  he  until  his  back  has  rubbed  along  the  sticky,  overhanging 
stigma,  which  is  furnished  with  minute,  rigid,  sharply  pointed 
papillae,  all  directed  forward,  and  placed  there  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  combing  out  the  pollen  he  has  brought  from  another 
flower  on  his  back  or  head.  The  imported  pollen  having  been 
safely  removed,  he  still  has  to  st  nggle  on  toward  freedom  through 
one  of  the  narrow  openings,  where  an  anther  almost  blocks  his 
way. 

As  he  works  outward,  this  anther,  drawn  downward  on  its 
hinge,  plasters  his  back  with  yellow  granular  pollen  as  a  parting 
gift,  and  away  he  flies  to  another  lady's  slipper  to  have  it  combed 
out  by  the  sticky  stigma  as  described  above.  The  smallest  bees 

82 


MOCCASIN    FLOWER,    OR    PINK    LADIES'    SLIPPER 
(Cyfirifiedium  acaule) 


ARETHUSA 
(Arethusa  bulbosd) 


SNAKE-MOUTH    OR    ROSE    POGONIA 
(Pogonia  ophioglossoides) 


Magenta  to  Pink 

can  squeeze  through  the  passage  without  paying  toll.  To  those  of 
the  Andrena  and  Halictus  tribe  the  flower  is  evidently  best  adapted. 
Sometimes  the  largest  bumblebees,  either  unable  or  unwilling  to 
get  out  by  the  legitimate  route,  bite  their  way  to  liberty.  Muti- 
lated sacs  are  not  uncommon.  But  when  unable  to  get  out  by 
fair  means,  and  too  bewildered  to  escape  by  foul,  the  large  bee 
must  sometimes  perish  miserably  in  his  gorgeous  prison.  '" 


Showy,  Gay,  or  Spring  Orchis 

(Orchis  spectabilis)  Orchid  family 

Flowers — Purplish  pink,  of  deeper  and  lighter  shade,  the  lower  lip 
white,  and  thick  of  texture ;  from  3  to  6  on  a  spike ;  fragrant. 
Sepals  pointed,  united,  arching  above  the  converging  petals, 
and  resembling  a  hood ;  lip  large,  spreading,  prolonged  into 
a  spur,  which  is  largest  at  the  tip  and  as  long  as  the  twisted 
footstem.  Stem:  4to  12 in.  high,  thick,  fleshy,  5-sided.  Leaves: 
2,  large,  broadly  ovate,  glossy  green,  silvery  on  underside,  ris- 
ing from  a  few  scales  from  root.  Fruit:  A  sharply  angled 
capsule,  i  in.  long. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rich,  moist  woods,  especially  under  hem- 
locks. 

Flowering  Season — April — June. 

Distribution — From  New  Brunswick  and  Ontario  southward  to 
our  Southern  States,  westward  to  Nebraska. 

Of  the  six  floral  leaves  which  every  orchid,  •  terrestrial  or 
aerial,  possesses,  one  is  always  peculiar  in  form,  pouch-shaped, 
or  a  cornucopia  filled  with  nectar,  or  a  flaunted,  fringed  banner, 
or  a  broad  platform  for  the  insect  visitors  to  alight  on.  Some 
orchids  look  to  imaginative  eyes  as  if  they  were  masquerading  in 
the  disguise  of  bees,  moths,  frogs,  birds,  butterflies.  A  number 
of  these  queer  freaks  are  to  be  found  in  Europe.  Spring  traps, 
adhesive  plasters,  and  hair-triggers  attached  to  explosive  shells  of 
pollen  are  among  the  many  devices  by  which  orchids  compel  insects 
to  cross-fertilize  them,  these  flowers  as  a  family  showing  the  most 
marvellous  mechanism  adapted  to  their  requirements  from  insects 
in  the  whole  floral  kingdom.  No  other  blossoms  can  so  well  afford 
to  wear  magenta,  the  ugliest  shade  nature  produces,  the  "lovely 
rosy  purple  "  of  Dutch  bulb  growers,  a  color  that  has  an  unplea- 
sant effect  on  not  a  few  American  stomachs  outside  of  Hoboken. 

But  an  orchid,  from  the  amazing  cleverness  of  its  operations, 
is  attractive  under  any  circumstances  to  whomever  understands 
it.  This  earliest  member  of  the  family  to  appear  charms  the  fe- 
male bumblebee,  to  whose  anatomy  it  is  especially  adapted.  The 
males,  whose  faces  are  hairy  where  the  females'  are  bare,  and  there- 

83 


Magenta  to  Pink 

fore  not  calculated  to  retain  the  sticky  pollen  masses,  are  not  yet 
flying  when  the  showy  orchis  blooms.  Bombus  Americanorum, 
which  can  drain  the  longest  spurs,  B.  separatus,  B.  terricola,  and, 
rarely,  butterflies  as  well,  have  been  caught  with  its  pollen  masses 
attached.  The  bee  alights  on  the  projecting  lip,  pushes  her  head 
into  the  mouth  of  the  corolla,  and,  as  she  sips  the  nectar  from  the 
horn  of  plenty,  ruptures  by  the  slight  pressure  a  membrane  of  the 
pouch  where  two  sticky  buttons,  to  which  two  pollen  masses  are 
attached,  lie  imbedded.  Instantly  after  contact  these  adhere  to  the 
round  bare  spots  on  her  face,  the  viscid  cement  hardening  before 
her  head  is  fairly  withdrawn.  Now  the  diverging  pollen  masses, 
that  look  like  antennae,  fall  from  the  perpendicular,  by  remarkable 
power  of  contraction,  to  a  horizontal  attitude,  that  they  may  be 
in  the  precise  position  to  fertilize  the  stigma  of  the  next  flower 
visited — just  as  if  they  possessed  a  reasoning  intelligence  ! 
Even  after  all  the  pollen  has  been  deposited  on  the  sticky  stigmas 
of  various  blossoms,  stump-like  caudicles  to  which  the  two  little 
sacs  were  attached  have  been  found  still  plastered  on  a  long-suffer- 
ing bee.  But  so  rich  in  nectar  are  the  moisture-loving  orchids 
that,  to  obtain  a  draught,  the  sticky  plasters  which  she  must  carry 
do  not  seem  too  dear  a  price  to  pay.  In  this  showy  orchis  the 
nectar  often  rises  an  eighth  of  an  inch  in  the  tube,  and  sufficient 
pressure  to  cause  a  rupture  will  eject  it  a  foot. 


Rose  or  Sweet  Pogonia;  Snake-mouth 

(Pogonia  ophioglossoides]  Orchid  family 

Flowers — Pale  rose  pink,  fragrant,  about  i  in.  long,  usually  soli- 
tary at  end  of  stem  8  to  1 5  in.  high,  and  subtended  by  a  leaf- 
like  bract.  Sepals  and  petals  equal,  oval,  about  y2  in.  long,  the 
lip  spoon-shaped,  crested,  and  fringed.  Column  shorter  than 
petals,  thick,  club-shaped.  Anther  terminal,  attached  to  back 
of  column,  i  pollen  mass  in  each  of  its  2  sacs.  Stigma  a  flat- 
tened disk  below  anther.  Leaves :  \  to  3,  erect,  lance-oblong, 
sometimes  one  with  longfootstem  from  fibrous  root. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Swamps  and  low  meadows. 

Flowering  Season — J  u  n  e — J  u  ly . 

Distribution — Canada  to  Florida,  westward  to  Kansas. 

Rearing  its  head  above  the  low  sedges,  often  brightened  with 
colonies  of  the  grass  pink  at  the  same  time,  this  shy  recluse  of  the 
swamps  woos  the  passing  bee  with  lovely  color,  a  fragrance  like 
fresh  red  raspberries,  an  alluring  alighting  place  all  fringed  and 
crested,  and  with  the  prospect  of  hospitable  entertainment  in  the 
nectary  beyond.  So  in  she  goes,  between  the  platform  and  the 
column  overhead,  pushing  first  her  head,  then  brushing  her  back 

84 


Magenta  to  Pink 

against  the  stigma  just  below  the  end  of  the  thick  column  that 
almost  closes  the  passage.  Any  powdery  pollen  she  brought  on 
her  back  from  another  pogonia  must  now  be  brushed  off  against 
the  sticky  stigma.  Her  feast  ended,  out  she  backs.  And  now  a 
wonderful  thing  happens.  The  lid  of  the  anther  which  is  at  the 
end  of  the  column,  catching  in  her  shoulders,  swings  outward  on 
its  elastic  hinge,  releasing  a  little  shower  of  golden  dust,  which  she 
must  carry  on  the  hairs  of  her  head  or  back  until  the  sticky  stigma 
of  the  next  pogonia  entered  kindly  wipes  it  off !  This  is  one  of 
the  few  orchids  whose  pollen,  usually  found  in  masses,  is  not 
united  by  threads.  Without  the  bee's  aid  in  releasing  it  from  its 
little  box,  the  lovely  species  would  quickly  perish  from  the  face 
of  the  earth. 

Arethusa;   Indian  Pink 

(Arethusa  bulbosa)  Orchid  family 

Flowers — i  to  2  in.  long,  bright  purple  pink,  solitary,  violet  scented, 
rising  from  between  a  pair  of  small  scales  at  end  of  smooth 
scape  from  5  to  10  in.  high.  Lip  dropping  beneath  sepals 
and  petals,  broad,  rounded,  toothed,  or  fringed,  blotched  with 
purple,  and  with  three  hairy  ridges  down  its  surface.  Leaf: 
Solitary,  hidden  at  first,  coming  after  the  flower,  but  attain- 
ing length  of  6  in.  Root:  Bulbous.  Fruit:  A  6-ribbed  cap- 
sule, i  in.  long,  rarely  maturing. 

Preferred  Habitat — Northern  bogs  and  swamps. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution — From  North  Carolina  and  Indiana  northward  to  the 
Fur  Countries. 

One  flower  to  a  plant,  and  that  one  rarely  maturing  seed  ;  a 
temptingly  beautiful  prize  which  few  refrain  from  carrying  home, 
to  have  it  wither  on  the  way  ;  pursued  by  that  more  persistent 
lover  than  Alpheus,  the  orchid-hunter  who  exports  the  bulbs  to 
European  collectors — little  wonder  this  exquisite  orchid  is  rare, 
and  that  from  certain  of  those  cranberry  bogs  of  Eastern  New 
England,  which  it  formerly  brightened  with  its  vivid  pink,  it  has 
now  gone  forever.  Like  Arethusa,  the  nymph  whom  Diana 
changed  into  a  fountain  that  she  might  escape  from  the  infatuated 
river  god,  Linnaeus  fancied  this  flower  a  maiden  in  the  midst  of  a 
spring  bubbling  from  wet  places  where  presumably  none  may 
follow  her. 

But  the  bee,  our  Arethusa's  devoted  lover,  although  no 
villain,  still  pursues  her.  He  knows  that  moisture-loving  plants 
secrete  the  most  nectar.  When  the  head  of  the  bee  enters  the 
flower  to  sip,  nothing  happens  ;  but  as  he  raises  his  head  to 
depart,  it  cannot  help  lifting  the  lid  of  the  helmet-shaped  anther 

85 


Magenta  to  Pink 

and  so  letting  fall  a  few  soft  pellets  of  pollen  on  it.  Now,  after 
he  has  drained  the  next  arethusa,  his  pollen-laden  head  must 
rub  against  the  long  sticky  stigma  before  it  touches  the  helmet- 
like  anther  lid  and  precipitates  another  volley  of  pollen.  In  some 
such  manner  most  of  our  orchids  compel  insects  to  work  for  them 
in  preventing  self-fertilization. 

Another  charming,  but  much  smaller,  orchid,  that  we  must 
don  our  rubber  boots  to  find  where  it  hides  in  cool,  peaty  bogs 
from  Canada  and  the  Northern  United  States  to  California,  and 
southward  in  the  Rockies  to  Arizona,  is  the  Calypso  (Calypso 
bulbosd).  It  is  a  solitary  little  flower,  standing  out  from  the  top  of 
a  jointed  scape  that  never  rises  more  than  six  inches  from  the  solid 
bulb,  hidden  in  the  moss,  nor  boasts  more  than  one  nearly  round 
leaf  near  its  base.  The  blossom  itself  suggests  one  of  the  lady's 
slipper  orchids,  with  its  rosy  purple,  narrow,  pointed  sepals  and 
petals  clustered  at  the  top  above  a  large,  sac-shaped,  whitish  lip. 
The  latter  is  divided  into  two  parts,  heavily  blotched  with  cinnamon 
brown,  and  woolly  with  a  patch  of  yellow  hairs  near  the  point  of 
the  division.  May — June. 


Calopogon;  Grass  Pink 

(Limodorum  tuberosum)  Orchid  family 
(Calopogon  pulchellus  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Purplish  pink,  i  in.  long,  3  to  15  around  a  long,  loose 
spike.  Sepals  and  petals  similar,  oval,  acute  ;  the  lip  on  upper 
side  of  flower  is  broad  at  the  summit,  tapering  into  a  claw, 
flexible  as  if  hinged,  densely  bearded  on  its  face  with  white, 
yellow,  and  magenta  hairs  (Calopogon  =  beautiful  beard). 
Column  below  lip  (ovary  not  twisted  in  this  exceptional 
case)  ;  sticky  stigma  at  summit  of  column,  and  just  below  it 
a  2-celled  anther,  each  cell  containing  2  pollen  masses,  the 
grain  lightly  connected  by  threads.  Scape:  i  to  i}£  ft.  high, 
slender,  naked.  Leaf:  Solitary,  long,  grass-like,  from  a  round 
bulb  arising  from  bulb  of  previous  year. 

Preferred  Habitat — Swamps,  cranberry  bogs,  and  low  meadows. 

Flowering  Season — J  u  n  e  — J  u  Iy . 

Distribution — Newfoundland  to  Florida,  and  westward  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi. 

Fortunately  this  lovely  orchid,  one  of  the  most  interesting  of 
its  highly  organized  family,  is  far  from  rare,  and  where  we  find 
the  rose  pogonia  and  other  bog-loving  relatives  growing,  the  cal- 
opogon  usually  outnumbers  them  all.  Limodorum  translated 

86 


Magenta  to  Pink 

reads  meadow-gift ;  but  we  find  the  flower  less  frequently  in  grassy 
places  than  those  who  have  waded  into  its  favorite  haunts  could 
wish. 

Owing  to  the  crested  lip  being  oddly  situated  on  the  upper 
part  of  the  flower,  which  appears  to  be  growing  upside  down 
in  consequence,  one  might  suppose  a  visiting  insect  would  not 
choose  to  alight  on  it.  The  pretty  club-shaped,  vari-colored  hairs, 
which  he  may  mistake  for  stamens,  and  which  keep  his  feet  from 
slipping,  irresistibly  invite  him  there,  however,  when,  presto!  down 
drops  the  fringed  lip  with  startling  suddenness.  Of  course,  the 
bee  strikes  his  back  against  the  column  when  he  falls.  Now,  there 
are  two  slightly  upturned  little  wings  on  either  side  of  the  column, 
which  keep  his  body  from  slipping  off  at  either  side  and  necessi- 
tate its  exit  from  the  end  where  the  stigma  smears  it  with  viscid 
matter.  The  pressure  of  the  insect  on  this  part  starts  the  pollen 
masses  from  their  pocket  just  below  ;  and  as  the  bee  slides  off  the 
end  of  the  column,  the  exposed,  cobwebby  threads  to  which  the 
pollen  grains  are  attached  cling  to  his  sticky  body.  The  sticky 
substance  instantly  hardening,  the  pollen  masses,  which  are  drawn 
put  from  their  pocket  as  he  escapes,  are  cemented  to  his  abdomen 
in  the  precise  spot  where  they  must  strike  against  the  stigma  of  the 
next  calopogon  he  tumbles  in  ;  hence  cross-fertilization  results. 
What  recompense  does  the  bee  get  for  such  rough  handling  ? 
None  at  all,  so  far  as  is  known.  The  flower,  which  secretes  no 
nectar,  is  doubtless  one  of  those  gay  deceivers  that  Sprengel 
named  "  Scheinsaftblumen, "  only  it  leads  its  visitors  to  look  for 
pollen  instead  of  nectar,  on  the  supposition  that  the  club-shaped 
hairs  on  the  crests  are  stamens.  The  wonder  is  that  the  intel- 
ligent little  bees  (a  species  of  Andrenidce),  which  chiefly  are  its 
victims,  have  not  yet  learned  to  boycott  it. 

"Calopogon,"  says  Professor  Robertson,  who  knows  more 
about  the  fertilization  of  American  wild  flowers  by  insects  than 
most  writers,  "is  one  of  a  few  flowers  which  move  the  insect 
toward  the  stigma.  .  .  .  There  is  no  expenditure  in  keeping  up 
a  supply  of  nectar,  and  the  flower,  although  requiring  a  smooth 
insect  of  a  certain  size  and  weight,  suffers  nothing  from  the  visits 
of  those  it  cannot  utilize.  Then,  there  is  no  delay  caused  by  the 
insect  waiting  to  suck;  but  as  soon  as  it  alights  it  is  thrown  dlown 
against  the  stigma.  This  occurs  so  quickly  that,  while  standing 
net  in  hand,  I  have  seen  insects  effect  pollination  and  escape  be- 
fore I  could  catch  them.  So  many  orchids  fasten  their  pollinia 
upon  the  faces  and  tongues  of  insects  that  it  is  interesting  to  find 
one  which  applies  them  regularly  to  the  first  abdominal  seg- 
ment. .  .  .  Mr.  Darwin  has  observed  that  absence  of  hair 
on  the  tongues  of  Lepidoptera  (butterflies  and  moths)  and  on 
the  faces  of  Hymenoptera  (bees,  wasps,  etc.)  has  led  to  the  more 
usual  adaptations,  and  sparseness  of  hair  has  its  influence  in  this 
case.  Species  of  Augochlora  are  the  only  insects  on  which  I 

87 


Magenta  to  Pink 

found  pollinia.  These  bees  are  very  smooth,  depending  for  orna- 
ment on  the  metallic  sheen  of  their  bodies.  An  Halictus  repeatedly 
pulled  down  the  labella  (lips)  of  flowers  from  which  pollinia  had 
not  been  removed;  and  the  only  reason  I  can  assign  for  its  failure 
to  extract  pollinia  is  that  it  is  more  hairy  than  the  Augochlora." 


Common  Persicaria,  Pink  Knotweed,  or  Joint- 
weed;  Smartweed 

(Polygonum  Pennsylvanicum)  Buckwheat  family 

Flmuers — Very  small,  pink,  collected  in  terminal,  dense,  narrow, 
obtuse  spikes,  i  to  2  in.  long.  Calyx  pink  or  greenish,  5- 
parted,  like  petals;  no  corolla;  stamens  8  or  less;  style  2- 
parted.  Stem :  i  to  3  ft.  high,  simple  or  branched,  often 
partly  red,  the  joints  swollen  and  sheathed;  the  branches 
above,  and  peduncles  glandular.  Leaves:  Oblong,  lance- 
shaped,  entire  edged,  2  to  1 1  in.  long,  with  stout  midrib, 
sharply  tapering  at  tip,  rounded  into  short  petioles  below. 

Preferred  Habitat — Waste  places,  roadsides,  moist  soil. 

Flowering  Season — July — October. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico;  westward  to 
Texas  and  Minnesota. 

Everywhere  we  meet  this  commonest  of  plants  or  some  of  its 
similar  kin,  the  erect  pink  spikes  brightening  roadsides,  rubbish 
heaps,  fields,  and  waste  places,  from  midsummer  to  frost.  The 
little  flowers,  which  open  without  method  anywhere  on  the  spike 
they  choose,  attract  many  insects,  the  smaller  bees  (Andrena)  con- 
spicuous among  the  host.  As  the  spreading  divisions  of  the  peri- 
anth make  nectar-stealing  all  too  easy  for  ants  and  other  crawlers 
that  would  not  come  in  contact  with  anthers  and  stigma  where 
they  enter  a  flower  near  its  base,  most  buckwheat  plants  whose 
blossoms  secrete  sweets  protect  themselves  from  theft  by  coating 
the  upper  stems  with  glandular  hairs  that  effectually  discourage 
the  pilferers.  Shortly  after  fertilization,  the  little  rounded,  flat- 
sided  fruit  begins  to  form  inside  the  persistent  pink  calyx.  At  any 
time  the  spike-like  racemes  contain  more  bright  pink  buds  and 
shining  seeds  than  flowers.  Familiarity  alone  breeds  contempt 
for  this  plant,  that  certainly  possesses  much  beauty. 

The  Lady's  Thumb  (P.  Persicaria),  often  a  troublesome  weed, 
roams  over  the  whole  of  North  America,  except  at  the  extreme 
north — another  illustration  of  the  riotous  profusion  of  European 
floral  immigrants  rejoicing  in  the  easier  struggle  for  existence 
here.  Its  pink  spikes  are  shorter  and  less  slender  than  those  of  the 
preceding  taller,  but  similar  species,  and  its  leaves,  which  are 

88 


Magenta  to  Pink 

nearly  seated  on  the  stem,  have  dark  triangular  or  lunar  marks 
near  the  centre  in  the  majority  of  cases. 

An  insignificant  little  plant,  found  all  over  our  continent,  Eu- 
rope, and  Asia,  is  the  familiar  Knot-grass  or  Doorweed  (P. 
aviculare),  often  trailing  its  leafy,  jointed  stems  over  the  ground, 
but  at  times  weakly  erect,  to  display  its  tiny  greenish  or  white 
pink-edged  flowers,  clustered  in  the  axils  of  oblong,  bluish-green 
leaves  that  are  considerably  less  than  an  inch  long.  Although 
in  bloom  from  June  to  October,  insects  seldom  visit  it,  for  it  se- 
cretes very  little,  if  any,  nectar.  As  might  be  expected  in  such  a 
case,  its  stem  is  smooth. 

When  the  amphibious  Water  Persicaria  (P.  amphibium)  lifts 
its  short,  dense,  rose-colored  ovoid  or  oblong  club  of  bloom  above 
ponds  and  lakes,  it  is  sufficiently  protected  from  crawling  pilferers, 
of  course,  by  the  water  in  which  it  grows.  But  suppose  the  pond 
dries  up  and  the  plant  is  left  on  dry  ground,  what  then  ?  Now,  a 
remarkable  thing  happens:  protective  glandular,  sticky  hairs  ap- 
pear on  the  epidermis  of  the  leaves  and  stems,  which  were  per- 
fectly smooth  when  the  flowers  grew  in  water.  Such  small  wing- 
less insects  as  might  pilfer  nectar  without  bringing  to  their  hostess 
any  pollen  from  other  blossoms  are  held  as  fast  as  on  bird-lime. 
The  stem,  which  sometimes  floats,  sometimes  is  immersed,  may 
attain  a  length  of  twenty  feet;  the  rounded,  elliptic,  petioled  leaves 
may  be  four  inches  long  or  only  half  that  size.  From  Quebec  to 
New  Jersey,  and  westward  to  the  Pacific,  the  solitary,  showy  in- 
florescence, which  does  well  to  attain  a  height  of  an  inch,  may  be 
found  during  July  and  August. 

Throughout  the  summer,  narrow,  terminal,  erect,  spike-like 
racemes  of  small,  pale  pink,  flesh-colored,  or  greenish  flowers  are 
sent  upward  by  the  Mild  Water  Pepper  (P.  hydropiperoides). 
It  is  like  a  slender,  pale  variety  of  the  common  pink  persicarin. 
One  finds  its  inconspicuous,  but  very  common,  flowers  from  June 
to  September.  The  plant,  which  grows  in  shallow  water, 
swamps,  and  moist  places  throughout  the  Union  and  consider- 
ably north  and  south  of  it,  rises  three  feet  or  less.  The  cylindric 
sheaths  around  the  swollen  joints  of  the  stem  are  fringed  with 
long  bristles — a  clue  to  identification.  Another  similar  Water 
Pepper  or  Smartweed  (P.  hydropiper)  is  so  called  because  of 
its  acrid,  biting  juice. 

The  Climbing  False  Buckwheat  (P.  scandens)  straggles  over 
bushes  in  woods,  thickets,  and  by  the  waysides  throughout  a 
very  wide  range  ;  yet  its  small,  dull,  greenish-yellow  and  pink- 
ish flowers,  loosely  clustered  in  long  pedicelled  racemes,  are  so 
inconspicuous  during  August  and  September,  when  the  showy 

89 


Magenta  to  Pink 

composites  are  in  their  glory,  that  we  give  them  scarcely  a  glance. 
The  alternate  leaves,  which  are  heart-shaped  at  the  base  and 
pointed  at  the  lip,  suggesting  those  of  the  morning  glory,  are  on 
petioles  arising  from  sheaths  over  the  enlarged  joints  which,  in 
this  family,  are  always  a  most  prominent  characteristic — {Poly 
=  many,  gonum  =  a  knee).  The  three  outer  sepals,  keeled  when 
in  flower,  are  irregularly  winged  when  the  three-angled,  smooth 
achene  hangs  from  the  matured  blossom  in  autumn,  the  season 
at  which  the  vine  assumes  its  greatest  attractiveness. 

The  Arrow-leaved  Tear  Thumb  (P.  sagittatuni),  found  in 
ditches  and  swampy  wet  soil,  weakly  leans  on  other  plants,  or 
climbs  over  them  with  the  help  of  the  many  sharp,  recurved 
prickles  which  arm  its  four-angled  stem.  Even  the  petioles  and 
under  side  of  the  leafs  midrib  are  set  with  prickles.  The  light 
green  leaves,  that  combine  the  lance  and  the  arrow  shapes,  take  on 
a  beautiful  russet-red  tint  in  autumn.  The  little,  five-parted  rose- 
colored  or  greenish-white  flowers  grow  in  small,  close  terminal 
heads  from  July  to  September  from  Nova  Scotia  to  the  Gulf  and 
far  westward. 

Seaside  or  Coast  Jointweed  or  Knot-grass  (Polygonella  arti- 
culata) — Polygonum  articulatum  of  Gray — a  low,  slender,  wiry, 
diffusely  spreading  little  plant,  with  thread-like  leaves  seated  on 
its  much-jointed  stem,  rises  cleanly  from  out  the  sand  of  the 
coast  from  Maine  to  Florida,  and  the  shores  of  the  Great  Lakes. 
Very  slender  racemes  of  tiny,  nodding,  rose-tinted  white  flowers, 
with  a  dark  midrib  to  each  of  the  five  calyx  segments,  are  insig- 
nificant of  themselves  ;  but  when  seen  in  masses,  from  July  to 
October,  they  tinge  the  upper  beaches  and  sandy  meadows  with 
a  pink  blush  that  not  a  few  artists  have  transferred  to  the  fore- 
ground of  their  marine  pictures. 


Corn  Cockle;  Corn  Rose;  Corn  or  Red  Cam- 
pion; Crown-of-the-Field 

(Agrostemma  Githago)  Pink  familv 
(Lychnis  Githago  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Magenta  or  bright  purplish  crimson,  I  to  3  in.  broad, 
solitary  at  end  of  long,  stout  footstem;  5  lobes  of  calyx 
leaf-like,  very  long  and  narrow,  exceeding  petals.  Corolla  of 
5  broad,  rounded  petals ;  10  stamens ;  5  styles  alternating  with 
calyx  lobes,  opposite  petals.  Stem :  i  to  3  ft.  high,  erect,  with 
few  or  no  branches,  leafy,  the  plant  covered  with  fine  white 
90 


Magenta  to  Pink 

hairs.  Leaves:  Opposite,  seated  on  stem,  long,  narrow, 
pointed,  erect.  Fruit:  a  I -celled,  many-seeded  capsule. 

Preferred  Habitat — Wheat  and  other  grain  fields ;  dry,  waste  places. 

Flowering  Season — July — September. 

Distribution — United  States  at  large;  most  common  in  Central 
and  Western  States.  Also  in  Europe  and  Asia. 

"Allons!  aliens!  sow'd  cockle,  reap'd  no  corn,"  exclaims 
Biron  in  "Love's  Labor  Lost."  Evidently  the  farmers  even  in 
Shakespeare's  day  counted  this  brilliant  blossom  the  pest  it  has 
become  in  many  of  our  own  grain  fields  just  as  it  was  in  ancient 
times,  when  Job,  after  solemnly  protesting  his  righteousness, 
called  on  his  own  land  to  bear  record  against  him  if  his  words 
were  false.  "Let  thistles  grow  instead  of  wheat,  and  cockle 
instead  of  barley,"  he  cried,  according  to  James  the  First's  trans- 
lators ;  but  the  "noisome  weeds"  of  the  original  text  seem  to 
indicate  that  these  good  men  were  more  anxious  to  give  the 
English  people  an  adequate  conception  of  Job's  willingness  to 
suffer  for  his  honor's  sake  than  to  translate  literally.  Possibly 
the  cockle  grew  in  Southern  Asia  in  Job's  time  :  to-day  its  range 
is  north. 

Like  many  another  immigrant  to  our  hospitable  shores,  this 
vigorous  invader  shows  a  tendency  to  outstrip  native  blossoms 
in  life's  race.  Having  won  in  the  struggle  for  survival  in  the  old 
country,  where  the  contest  has  been  most  fiercely  waged  for 
centuries,  it  finds  life  here  easy,  enjoyable.  What  are  its  methods 
for  insuring  an  abundance  of  fertile  seed  ?  We  see  that  the  tube 
of  the  flower  is  so  nearly  closed  by  the  stamens  and  five-styled 
pistil  as  to  be  adapted  only  to  the  long,  slender  tongues  of  moths 
and  butterflies,  for  which  benefactors  it  became  narrow  and  deep 
to  reserve  the  nectar.  A  certain  night-flying  moth  (one  of  the 
Dianthcecia)  fertilizes  flowers  of  this  genus  exclusively,  and  its 
larvse  feed  on  their  unripe  seeds  as  a  staple.  Bees  and  some 
long-tongued  flies  seen  about  the  corn  cockle  doubtless  get  pollen 
only ;  but  there  are  few  flowers  so  deep  that  the  longest-tongued 
bees  cannot  sip  them.  Butterflies,  attracted  by  the  bright  color 
of  the  flower — and  to  them  color  is  the  most  catchy  of  advertise- 
ments—are  guided  by  a  few  dark  lines  on  the  petals  to  the  nectary. 

Soon  after  the  blossom  opens,  five  of  the  stamens  emerge  from 
the  tube  and  shed  their  pollen  on  the  early  visitor.  Later,  the 
five  other  stamens  empty  the  contents  of  their  anthers  on  more 
tardy  comers.  Finally,  when  all  danger  of  self-fertilization  is 
past,  the  styles  stretch  upward,  and  the  butterfly,  whose  head  is 
dusted  with  pollen  brought  from  earlier  flowers,  necessarily  leaves 
some  on  their  sticky  surfaces  as  he  takes  the  leavings  in  the 
nectary. 

So  much  cross-fertilized  seed  as  the  plant  now  produces  and 
scatters  through  the  grain  fields  may  well  fill  the  farmer's  prosaic 

91 


Magenta  to  Pink 

mind  with  despair.  To  him  there  is  no  glory  in  the  scarlet  of  the 
poppy  comparable  with  the  glitter  of  a  silver  dollar;  no  charm  in 
the  heavenly  blue  of  the  corn-flower,  that  likewise  preys  upon  the 
fertility  of  his  soil;  the  vivid  flecks  of  color  with  which  the  cockle 
lights  up  his  fields  mean  only  loss  of  productiveness  in  the  earth 
that  would  yield  him  greater  profit  without  them.  Moreover, 
seeds  of  this  so-called  weed  not  only  darken  his  wheat  when  they 
are  threshed  out  together,  but  are  positively  injurious  if  swallowed 
in  any  quantity.  Emerson  said  every  plant  is  called  a  weed  until 
its  usefulness  is  discovered.  Linnaeus  called  this  flower  Agro- 
stemma  =  the  crown-of-the-field.  Agriculturalists  never  realize 
that  beauty  is  in  itself  a  sufficient  plea  for  respected  existence. 
Not  a  few  of  the  cockle's  relatives  adorn  men's  gardens. 


Wild  Pink  or  Catchfly 

(Silene  Caroliniana)  Pink  family 
(5.  Pennsyl-vanica  of  Gray) 

Fl<nvers — Rose  pink,  deep  or  very  pale ;  about  i  inch  broad,  on  slen- 
der footstalks,  in  terminal  clusters.  Calyx  tubular,  5-toothed, 
much  enlarged  in  fruit,  sticky  ;  5  petals  with  claws  enclosed 
in  calyx,  wedged-shaped  above,  slightly  notched.  Stamens 
10  ;  pistil  with  3  styles.  Stem:  4  to  10  in.  high,  hairy,  sticky 
above,  growing  in  tufts.  Leaves:  Basal  ones  spatulate  ;  2  or 
3  pairs  of  lance-shaped,  smaller  leaves  seated  on  stem. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Dry,  gravelly,  sandy,  or  rocky  soil. 

Flowering  Season— April— June. 

Distribution— New  England,  south  to  Georgia,  westward  to  Ken- 
tucky. 

Fresh,  dainty,  and  innocent-looking  as  Spring  herself  are 
these  bright  flowers.  Alas,  for  the  tiny  creatures  that  try  to  climb 
up  the  rosy  tufts  to  pilfer  nectar,  they  and  their  relatives  are  not 
so  innocent  as  they  appear  !  While  the  little  crawlers  are  almost 
within  reach  of  the  cup  of  sweets,  their  feet  are  gummed  to  the 
viscid  matter  that  coats  it,  and  here  their  struggles  end  as  flies'  do 
on  sticky  fly-paper,  or  birds'  on  limed  twigs.  A  naturalist  counted 
sixty-two  little  corpses  on  the  sticky  stem  of  a  single  pink.  All 
this  tragedy  to  protect  a  little  nectar  for  the  butterflies  which,  in 
sipping  it,  transfer  the  pollen  from  one  flower  to  another,  and  so 
help  them  to  produce  the  most  beautiful  and  robust  offspring. 

The  pink,  which  has  two  sets  of  stamens  of  five  each,  elevates 
first  one  set,  then  the  other,  for  economy's  sake  and  to  run  less 
risk  of  failure  to  get  its  pollen  transferred  in  case  of  rain  when  its 
friends  are  not  flying.  After  all  the  golden  dust  has  been  shed, 
however,  up  come  the  three  recurved  styles  from  the  depth  of  the 

92 


Magenta  to  Pink 

tube  to  receive  pollen  brought  by  butterflies  from  younger  flowers. 
There  are  few  cups  so  deep  that  the  largest  bumblebees  cannot 
suck  them.  Flies  which  feed  on  the  pink's  pollen  only,  some- 
times come  by  mistake  to  older  blossoms  in  the  stigmatic  stage, 
and  doubtless  cross-fertilize  them  once  in  a  while. 

In  waste  places  and  woods  farther  southward  and  westward, 
and  throughout  the  range  of  the  Wild  Pink  as  well,  clusters  of  the 
Sleepy  Catchfly  (S.  antirrhina)  open  their  tiny  pink  flowers  for  a 
short  time  only  in  the  sunshine.  At  any  stage  they  are  mostly 
calyx,  but  in  fruit  this  part  is  much  expanded.  Swollen,  sticky 
joints  are  the  plant's  means  of  defence  from  crawlers.  Season  : 
Summer. 

When  moths  begin  their  rounds  at  dusk,  the  Night-flowering 
Catchfly  (5.  noctiflora)  opens  its  pinkish  or  white  flowers  to  emit 
a  fragrance  that  guides  them  to  a  feast  prepared  for  them  alone. 
Day-blooming  Catchflies  have  no  perfume,  nor  do  they  need  it ; 
their  color  and  markings  are  a  sufficient  guide  to  the  butterflies. 
Sticky  hairs  along  the  stems  of  this  plant  ruthlessly  destroy,  not 
flies,  but  ants  chiefly,  that  would  pilfer  nectar  without  being  able 
to  render  the  flower  any  service.  Yet  the  calyx  is  beautifully 
veined,  as  if  to  tantalize  the  crawlers  by  indicating  the  path  to  a 
banquet  hall  they  may  never  reach.  Only  a  very  few  flowers,  an 
inch  across  or  less,  are  clustered  at  the  top  of  the  plant,  which 
blooms  from  July  to  September  in  waste  places  east  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  in  Canada. 

Soapwort;  Bouncing  Bet;  Hedge  Pink;  Bruise- 
wort;  Old  Maid's  Pink;  Fuller's  Herb 

(Saponaria  officinalis)  Pink  family 

Flowers — Pink  or  whitish,  fragrant,  about  i  inch  broad,  loosely 
clustered  at  end  of  stem,  also  sparingly  from  axils  of  upper 
leaves.  Calyx  tubular,  5-toothed,  about  %  in.  long  ;  5  petals, 
the  claws  inserted  in  deep  tube.  Stamens  10,  in  2  sets ;  i  pistil 
with  2  styles.  Flowers  frequently  double.  Stem:  \  to  2  ft. 
high,  erect,  stout,  sparingly  branched  leafy.  Leaves:  Oppo- 
site, acutely  oval,  2  to  3  in.  long,  about  i  in.  wide,  3  to  "> 
ribbed.  Fruit:  An  oblong  capsule,  shorter  than  calyx,  open- 
ing at  top  by  4  short  teeth  or  valves. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Roadsides,  banks,  and  waste  places. 

Flowering  Season — June — September. 

Distribution — Generally  common.     Naturalized  from  Europe. 

A  stout,  buxom,  exuberantly  healthy  lassie  among  flowers  is 
Bouncing  Bet,  who  long  ago  escaped  from  gardens  whither  she 

93 


Magenta  to  Pink 

was  brought  from  Europe,  and  ran  wild  beyond  colonial  farms  to 
roadsides,  along  which  she  has  travelled  over  nearly  our  entire 
area.  Underground  runners  and  abundant  seed  soon  form  thrifty 
colonies.  This  plant,  to  which  our  grandmothers  ascribed  heal- 
ing virtues,  makes  a  cleansing,  soap-like  lather  when  its  bruised 
leaves  are  agitated  in  water. 

Butterflies,  which  delight  in  bright  colors  and  distinct  markings, 
find  little  to  charm  them  here  ;  but  the  pale  shade  of  pink  or 
white,  easily  distinguished  in  the  dark,  and  the  fragrance,  strongest 
after  sunset,  effectively  advertise  the  flower  at  dusk  when  its  bene- 
factors begin  to  fly.  The  sphinx  moth,  a  frequent  visitor,  works 
as  rapidly  in  extracting  nectar  from  the  deep  tube  as  any  hawk 
moth,  so  frequently  mistaken  for  a  humming-bird.  The  little 
cliff-dwelling  bees  (Halictus),  among  others,  visit  the  flowers  by 
day  for  pollen  only.  At  first  five  outer  stamens  protrude  slightly 
from  the  flower  and  shed  their  pollen  on  the  visitor,  immediately 
over  the  entrance.  Afterward,  having  spread  apart  to  leave  the 
entrance  free,  the  path  is  clear  for  the  five  inner  stamens  to  follow 
the  same  course.  Now  the  styles  are  still  enclosed  in  the  tube  ; 
but  when  there  is  no  longer  fear  of  self-fertilization — that  is  to  say, 
when  the  pollen  has  all  been  carried  off,  and  the  stamens  have 
withered — up  they  come  and  spread  apart  to  expose  their  rough 
upper  surfaces  to  pollen  brought  from  younger  flowers  by  the 
moths. 

Deptford  Pink 

(Dianthus  Armeria)  Pink  family 

Flowers — Pink,  with  whitish  dots,  small,  borne  in  small  clusters  at 
end  of  stem.  Calyx  tubular,  ^-toothed,  with  several  bract-like 
leaves  at  base;  5  petals  with  toothed  edges,  clawed  at  base 
within  deep  calyx;  10 stamens;  i  pistil  with  2  styles.  Stem: 
6  to  1 8  in.  high,  stiff,  erect,  finely  hairy,  few  branches.  Leaves: 
Opposite,  blade-shaped,  or  lower  ones  rounded  at  end. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Fields,  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season— June — September. 

Distribution — Southern  Ontario,  New  England,  south  to  Maryland, 
west  to  Michigan. 

The  true  pinks  of  Europe,  among  which  are  the  Sweet  Wil- 
liam or  Bunch  Pink  (D.  barbatus)  of  our  gardens,  occasionally  wild 
here,  and  the  deliciously  spicy  Clove  Pink  (D.  Carophyllus),  an- 
cestor of  the  superb  carnations  of  the  present  day,  that  have  reached 
a  climax  in  the  Lawson  pink  of  newspaper  fame,  were  once  held 
sacred  to  Jupiter,  hence  Dianthus  =  Jove's  own  flower.  The 
Deptford  pink,  a  rather  insignificant  little  European  immigrant, 
without  fragrance,  has  a  decided  charm,  nevertheless,  when  seen 

94 


Magenta  to  Pink 

in  bright  patches  among  the  dry  grass  of  early  autumn,  with  small 
butterflies,  that  are  its  devoted  admirers,  hovering  above. 


Pink  or  Pale  Corydalis 

(Capnoides  sempervirens)  Poppy  family 
(Corydalis  glauca  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Pink,  with  yellow  tip,  about  ^  in.  long,  a  few  borne  in  a 
loose,  terminal  raceme.  Calyx  of  2  small  sepals;  corolla  ir- 
regular, of  4  erect,  closed,  and  flattened  petals  joined,  i  of  outer 
pair  with  short  rounded  spur  at  base,  the  interior  ones  narrow 
and  keeled  on  back.  Stamens  6,  in  2  sets,  opposite  outer 
petals;  I  pistil.  Stem:  Smooth,  curved,  branched,  I  to  2  feet 
high.  Leaves :  Pale  grayish  green,  delicate,  divided  into 
variously  and  finely  cut  leaflets.  Fruit:  Very  narrow,  erect 
pod,  i  to  2  in.  long. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Rocky,  rich,  cool  woods. 

Flowering  Season — April — -September. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  westward  to  Alaska,  south  to  Minnesota 
and  North  Carolina. 

Dainty  little  pink  sacs,  yellow  at  the  mouth,  hang  upside 
down  along  a  graceful  stem,  and  instantly  suggest  the  Dutch- 
man's breeches,  squirrel  corn,  bleeding  heart,  and  climbing  fumi- 
tory, to  which  the  plant  is  next  of  kin.  Because  the  lark  (Kory- 
dalos)  has  a  spur,  the  flower,  which  boasts  a  small  one  also,  bor- 
rows its  Greek  name. 

Hildebrand  proved  by  patient  experiments  that  some  flowers 
of  this  genus  have  not  only  lost  the  power  of  self-fertilization,  but 
that  they  produce  fertile  seed  only  when  pollen  from  another 
plant  is  carried  to  them.  Yet  how  difficult  they  make  dining  for 
their  benefactors!  The  humblebee,  which  can  reach  the  nectar, 
but  not  lap  it  conveniently,  often  ' '  gets  square  "  with  the  secretive 
blossom  by  nipping  holes  through  its  spur,  to  which  the  hive  bees 
and  others  hasten  for  refreshment.  We  frequently  find  these  punc- 
tured flowers.  But  hive  and  other  bees  visiting  the  blossom  for 
polien,  some  rubs  off  against  their  breast  when  they  depress  the 
two  middle  petals,  a  sort  of  sheath  that  contains  pistil  and  stamens. 


Hardback;  Steeple  Bush 

(Spiraea  tomentosa)  Rose  family 

Flowers — Pink  or  magenta,  rarely  white,  very  small,  in  dense, 
pyramidal  clusters.     Calyx  of  5  sepals;  corolla  of  5  rounded 

95 


Magenta  to  Pink 

petals  ;  stamens,  20  to  60  ;  usually  5  pistils,  downy.  Stem : 
2  to  3  ft.  high,  erect,  shrubby,  simple,  downy.  Leaves  :  Dark 
green  above,  covered  with  whitish  woolly  hairs  beneath  ; 
oval,  saw-edged,  i  to  2  in.  long. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Low  moist  ground,  roadside  ditches,  swamps. 

Flowering  Season — July — September. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  westward,  and  southward  to  Georgia 
and  Kansas. 

These  bright  spires  of  pink  bloom  attract  our  attention  no 
less  than  the  countless  eyes  of  flies,  beetles,  and  bees,  ever  on  the 
lookout  for  food  to  be  eaten  on  the  spot  or  stored  up  for  future 
progeny.  Pollen-feeding  insects  such  as  these  delight  in  the 
spireas,  most  of  which  secrete  little  or  no  nectar,  but  yield  an 
abundance  of  pollen,  which  they  can  gather  from  the  crowded 
panicles  with  little  loss  of  time,  transferring  some  of  it  to  the  pis- 
tils, of  course,  as  they  move  over  the  tiny  blossoms.  But  most 
spireas  are  also  able  to  fertilize  themselves,  insects  failing  them. 

An  instant's  comparison  shows  the  steeple  bush  to  be  closely 
related  to  the  fleecy,  white  meadow-sweet,  often  found  growing 
near.  The  pink  spires,  which  bloom  from  the  top  downward, 
have  pale  brown  tips  where  the  withered  flowers  are,  toward  the 
end  of  summer. 

Why  is  the  under  side  of  the  leaves  so  woolly?  Not  as 
a  protection  against  wingless  insects  crawling  upward,  that  is 
certain  ;  for  such  could  only  benefit  these  tiny  clustered  flowers. 
Not  against  the  sun's  rays,  for  it  is  only  the  under  surface  that  is 
coated.  When  the  upper  leaf  surface  is  hairy,  we  know  that  the 
plant  is  protected  in  this  way  from  perspiring  too  freely.  Doubt- 
less these  leaves  of  the  steeple  bush,  like  those  of  other  plants 
that  choose  a  similar  habitat,  have  woolly  hairs  beneath  as  an  ab- 
sorbent to  protect  their  pores  from  clogging  with  the  vapors  that 
must  rise  from  the  damp  ground  where  the  plant  grows.  If  these 
pores  were  filled  with  moisture  from  without,  how  could  they  pos- 
sibly throw  off  the  waste  of  the  plant  ?  All  plants  are  largely 
dependent  upon  free  perspiration  for  health,  but  especially  those 
whose  roots,  struck  in  wet  ground,  are  constantly  sending  up 
moisture  through  the  stem  and  leaves. 


Purple-flowering  or  Virginia  Raspberry 

(Rubus  odoratus)  Rose  family 

Flowers — Royal  purple  or  bluish  pink,  showy,  fragrant,  i  to  2  in. 

broad,  loosely  clustered  at  top  of  stem.     Calyx  sticky-hairy, 

deeply  5-parted,  with  long  pointed  tips  ;  corolla  of  5  rounded 

petals  ;  stamens  and  pistils  very  numerous.    Stem :  }  to  5  ft. 

96 


Magenta  to  Pink 

high,  erect,  branched,  shrubby,  bristly,  not  prickly.  Leaves: 
Alternate,  petioled,  3  to  5  lobed,  middle  lobe  largest,  and  all 
pointed  ;  saw-edged  lower  leaves  immense.  Fruit:  A  de- 
pressed red  berry,  scarcely  edible. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rocky  woods,  dells,  shady  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — June — August. 

Distribution — Northern  Canada  south  to  Georgia,  westward  to 
Michigan  and  Tennessee. 

To  be  an  unappreciated,  unloved  relative  of  the  exquisite  wild 
rose,  with  which  this  flower  is  so  often  likened,  must  be  a  similar 
misfortune  to  being  the  untalented  son  of  a  great  man,  or  the  un- 
happy author  of  a  successful  first  book  never  equalled  in  later  at- 
tempts. But  where  the  bright  blossoms  of  the  Virginia  raspberry 
burst  forth  above  the  roadside  tangle  and  shady  woodland  dells, 
even  those  who  despise  magenta  see  beauty  in  them  where  abun- 
dant green  tones  all  discordant  notes  into  harmony.  Purple,  as  we 
of  to-day  understand  the  color,  the  flower  is  not  ;  but  rather  the 
purple  of  ancient  Orientals.  On  cool,  cloudy  days  the  petals  are 
a  deep,  clear  purplish  rose,  that  soon  fades  and  dulls  with  age,  or 
changes  into  pale,  bluish  pink  when  the  sun  is  hot. 

Many  yellow  stamens  help  conceal  the  nectar  secreted  in  a 
narrow  ring  between  the  filaments  and  the  base  of  the  receptacle. 
Bumblebees,  the  principal  and  most  efficient  visitors,  which  can 
reach  sweets  more  readily  than  most  insects,  although  numerous 
others  help  to  self-fertilize  the  flower,  bring  to  the  mature  stig- 
mas of  a  newly  opened  blossom  pollen  carried  on  their  under 
sides  from  the  anthers  of  a  flower  a  day  or  two  older.  When 
the  inner  row  of  anthers  shed  their  pollen,  some  doubtless  falls  on 
the  stigmas  below  them,  and  so  spontaneous  self-fertilization  may 
occur.  Fruit  sets  quickly  ;  nevertheless  the  shrub  keeps  on  flow- 
ering nearly  all  summer.  Children  often  fold  the  lower  leaves, 
which  sometimes  measure  a  foot  across,  to  make  drinking-cups. 


Queen-of-the-Prairie 

(Ulmaria  rubra)  Rose  family 
(Spirea  lobata  of  Gray) 

Flowers— Deep  pink,  like  the  peach  blossom,  fragrant,  about  Yz  in. 
across,  clustered  in  large  cymose  panicles  on  a  long  footstalk. 
Calyx  5-lobed;  5-clawed,  rose-like  petals;  stamens  numer- 
ous; pistils  5  to  15,  usually  10.  Stem:  2  to  8  ft.  tall,  smooth, 
grooved,  branched.  Leaves :  Mostly  near  the  ground,  large, 
rarely  measuring  3  ft.  long,  compounded  of  from  3  to  7  leaf- 
lets; end  leaflet,  of  7  to  9  divisions,  much  the  largest;  side 
leaflets  opposite,  seated  on  stem,  3  to  5  lobed  or  parted ;  all 

7  97 


Magenta  to  Pink 

lobes  acute,  and  edges  unequally  incised.  Prominent  kidney- 
shaped  stipules. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Moist  meadows  and  prairies. 

Flowering  Season — June — July. 

Distribution — Western  Pennsylvania  to  Michigan  and  Iowa,  and 
southward. 

A  stately,  beautiful  native  plant,  seen  to  perfection  where  it 
rears  bright  panicles  of  bloom  above  the  ranker  growth  in  the 
low  moist  meadows  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  When  we  find  it  in  the 
East,  it  has  only  recently  escaped  from  man's  gardens  into  Nature's. 
Butterflies  and  bees  pay  grateful  homage  to  this  queen.  Indeed, 
butterflies  appear  to  have  a  special  fondness  for  pink,  as  bees 
have  for  blue  flowers.  Cattle  delight  to  chew  the  leaves,  which, 
when  crushed,  give  out  a  fragrance  like  sweet  birch. 

Wild  Roses 

(Rosa)  Rose  family 

Just  as  many  members  of  the  lily  tribe  show  a  preference  for 
the  rule  of  three  in  the  arrangements  of  their  floral  parts,  so  the 
wild  roses  cling  to  the  quinary  method  of  some  primitive  ances- 
tor, a  favorite  one  also  with  the  buttercup  and  many  of  its  kin, 
the  geraniums,  mallows,  and  various  others.  Most  of  our  fruit 
trees  and  bushes  are  near  relatives  of  the  rose.  Five  petals  and  five 
sepals,  then,  we  always  find  on  roses  in  a  state  of  nature  ;  and 
although  the  progressive  gardener  of  to-day  has  nowhere  shown 
his  skill  more  than  in  the  development  of  a  multitude  of  petals 
irom  stamens  in  the  magnificent  roses  of  fashionable  society,  the 
most  highly  cultivated  darling  of  the  greenhouses  quickly  reverts 
to  the  original  wild  type,  setting  his  work  of  years  at  naught, 
ii  once  it  regain  its  natural  liberties  through  neglect. 

To  protect  its  foliage  from  being  eaten  by  hungry  cattle,  the 
rose  goes  armed  into  the  battle  of  life  with  curved,  sharp  prickles, 
not  true  thorns  or  modified  branches,  but  merely  surface  appli- 
ances which  peel  off  with  the  bark.  To  destroy  crawling  pilferers 
oi  pollen,  several  species  coat  their  calices,  at  least,  with  fine  hairs  or 
sticky  gum  ;  and  to  insure  wide  distribution  of  offspring,  the  seeds 
are  packed  in  the  attractive,  bright  red  calyx  tube  or  hip,  a  favorite 
lood  of  many  birds,  which  drop  them  miles  away.  When  shall 
we  ever  learn  that  not  even  a  hair  has  been  added  to  or  taken 
irom  a  blossom  without  a  lawful  cause,  and  study  it  accordingly  ? 
Fragrance,  abundant  pollen,  and  bright-colored  petals  naturally 
attract  many  insects  ;  but  roses  secrete  no  nectar.  Some  species 
of  bees,  and  a  common  beetle  ( Trichius  piger)  for  example,  seem 
tc  depend  upon  certain  wild  roses  exclusively  for  pollen  to  feed 
themselves  and  their  larvae.  Bumblebees,  to  which  roses  are 

98 


Magenta  to  Pink 

adapted,  require  a  firmer  support  than  the  petals  would  give,  and 
so  alight  on  the  centre  of  the  flower,  where  the  pistil  receives 
pollen  carried  by  them  from  other  roses.  Although  the  numer- 
ous stamens  and  the  pistils  mature  simultaneously,  the  former  are 
usually  turned  outward,  that  the  incoming  pollen-laden  insect  may 
strike  the  stigma  first.  When  the  large  bees  cease  their  visits,  as 
they  may  in  long-continued  dull  or  rainy  weather,  the  rose,  turn- 
ing toward  the  sun,  stands  more  or  less  obliquely,  and  some  of 
the  pollen  must  fall  on  its  stigma.  Occasional  self-fertilization 
matters  little. 

If  plants  have  insect  benefactors,  they  have  their  foes  as  well  ; 
and  hordes  of  tiny  aphides,  commonly  known  as  green  flies  or 
plant  lice,  moored  by  their  sucking  tubes  to  the  tender  sprays  of 
roses,  wild  and  cultivated,  live  by  extracting  their  juices.  A 
curious  relationship  exists  between  these  little  creatures  and  the 
ants,  which  "milk"  them  by  stroking  and  caressing  them  with 
their  antennae  until  they  emit  a  tiny  drop  of  sweet,  white  fluid.  The 
yellow  ant,  that  lives  an  almost  subterranean  life,  actually  domes- 
ticates flocks  and  herds  of  root-feeding  aphides  ;  the  brown  ant 
appropriates  those  that  live  among  the  bark  of  trees  ;  and  the 
common  black  garden  ant  (Lasius  niger],  devoting  itself  to  the 
aphis  of  the  rose  bushes,  protects  it  in  extraordinary  ways,  delight- 
fully described  by  the  author  of  "  Ants,  Bees,  and  Wasps." 

In  literature,  ancient  and  modern,  sacred  and  profane,  no 
flower  figures  so  conspicuously  as  the  rose.  To  the  Romans  it 
was  most  significant  when  placed  over  the  door  of  a  public  or 
private  banquet  hall.  Each  who  passed  beneath  it  bound  himself 
thereby  not  to  disclose  anything  said  or  done  within  ;  hence  the 
expression  sub  rosa,  common  to  this  day. 

The  Prairie,  Climbing,  or  Michigan  Rose  (R.  setigera)  lifts 
clusters  of  deep,  bright  pink  flowers,  that  after  a  while  fade 
almost  white,  above  the  thickets  and  rich  prairie  soil,  from  southern 
Ontario  and  Wisconsin  to  the  Gulf,  as  far  eastward  as  Florida. 
Its  distinguishing  characteristics  are  :  Stout,  widely  separated 
prickles  along  the  stem,  that  grows  several  feet  long  ;  leaves  com- 
pounded of  three,  rarely  five,  oval  leaflets,  acute  or  obtuse  at  the 
apex  ;  stalks  and  calyx  often  glandular  ;  odorless  flowers  that, 
opening  in  June  and  July,  measure  about  two  and  a  half  inches 
across,  their  styles  cohering  in  a  smooth  column  on  which  bees 
are  tempted  to  alight  ;  and  a  round  hip,  or  seed  vessel,  formed  by 
the  fruiting  calyx,  which  is  more  or  less  glandular.  From  this 
parent  stock  several  valuable  double-flowering  roses  have  been 
derived,  among  others  the  Queen  and  the  Gem  of  the  Prairies, 
but  it  is  our  only  native  rose  that  has  ever  passed  into  cultivation. 

The  Smooth,  Early,  or  Meadow  Rose  (R.  blanda),  found 
blooming  in  June  and  July  in  moist,  rocky  places  from  Newfound- 
land to  New  Jersey  and  a  thousand  miles  westward,  has  a  trifle 

99 


Magenta  to  Pink 

larger  and  slightly  fragrant  flowers,  at  first  pink,  later  pure  white. 
Their  styles  are  separate,  not  cohering  in  a  column  nor  project- 
ing as  in  the  climbing  rose.  This  is  a  leafy,  low  bush  mostly  less 
than  three  feet  high  ;  it  is  either  entirely  unarmed,  or  else  pro- 
vided with  only  a  few  weak  prickles  ;  the  stipules  are  rather 
broad,  and  the  leaf  is  compounded  of  from  five  to  seven  oval, 
blunt,  and  pale  green  leaflets,  often  hoary  below. 

In  swamps  and  low,  wet  ground  from  Quebec  to  Florida, 
and  westward  to  the  Mississippi,  the  Swamp  Rose  (/?.  Carolina) 
blooms  late  in  May  and  on  to  midsummer.  The  bush  may  grow 
taller  than  a  man,  or  perhaps  only  a  foot  high.  It  is  armed  with 
stout,  hooked,  rather  distant  prickles,  and  few  or  no  bristles.  The 
leaflets,  from  five  to  nine,  but  usually  seven,  to  a  leaf,  are  smooth, 
pale,  or  perhaps  hairy  beneath  to  protect  the  pores  from  filling 
with  moisture  arising  from  the  wet  ground.  Long,  sharp  calyx 
lobes,  which  drop  off  before  the  cup  swells  in  fruit  into  a  round, 
glandular,  hairy  red  hip,  are  conspicuous  among  the  clustered 
pink  flowers  and  buds. 

Surely  no  description  of  our  Common,  Low,  Dwarf,  or  Pas- 
ture Rose  (R.  humilis)—R.  lucida  of  Gray— is  needed.  One's 
acquaintance  with  flowers  must  be  limited  indeed,  if  it  does  not 
include  this  most  abundant  of  all  the  wild  roses  from  Ontario  to 
Georgia,  and  westward  to  Wisconsin.  In  light,  dry,  or  rocky 
soil  we  find  the  exquisite,  but  usually  solitary,  blossom  late  in 
May  until  July,  and,  like  most  roses,  it  has  the  pleasant  practice 
of  putting  forth  a  stray  blossom  or  two  in  early  autumn.  The 
stamens  of  this  species  are  turned  outward  so  strongly  that  self- 
pollination  must  very  rarely  take  place. 

Among  the  following  charming  wild  roses,  not  natives,  but 
naturalized  immigrants  from  foreign  lands,  that  have  escaped 
from  gardens,  is  Shakespeare's  Canker-bloom,  the  lovely  Dog 
Rose  or  Wild  Brier  (R.  canina),  that  spreads  its  long,  straggling 
branches  along  the  roadsides  and  banks,  covering  the  waste 
lands  with  its  smooth,  beautiful  foliage,  and  in  June  and  July  with 
pink  or  white  roses.  Because  it  lacks  the  fragrance  of  sweet 
brier,  which  it  otherwise  closely  resembles,  it  has  been  branded 
with  the  dog  prefix  as  a  mark  of  contempt.  Professor  Koch 
says  that  long  before  it  was  customary  to  surround  gardens  with 
walls,  men  had  rose  hedges.  "  Each  of  the  four  great  peoples  of 
Asia,"  he  continues,  "  possessed  its  own  variety  of  rose,  and 
carried  it  during  all  wanderings,  until  finally  all  four  became  the 
common  property  of  the  four  peoples.  The  great  Indo-Ger- 
manic  stock  chose  the  '  hundred-leaved '  and  Red  Rose  (R.  Gal- 
lica)  ;  nevertheless,  after  the  Niebelungen  the  common  dog  rose 
played  an  important  part  among  the  ancient  Germans.  The 

109 


Magenta  to  Pink 

Damascus  Rose  (R.  Damascena),  which  blooms  twice  a  year,  as 
well  as  the  Musk  Rose  (R.  nwschata],  were  cherished  by  the 
Semitic  or  Arabic  stock  ;  while  the  Turkish-Mongolian  people 
planted  by  preference  the  Yellow  Rose  (R.  lutea).  Eastern 
Asia  (China  and  Japan)  is  the  fatherland  of  the  Indian  and  Tea 
Roses." 

How  fragrant  are  the  pages  of  Chaucer,  Spenser,  and  Shake- 
speare with  the  Eglantine!  This  delicious  plant,  known  here  as 
Sweetbrier  (R.  rubigmosa),  emits  its  very  aromatic  odor  from  russet 
glands  on  the  under,  downy  side  of  the  small  leaflets,  always  a  cer- 
tain means  of  identification.  From  eastern  Canada  to  Virginia  and 
Tennessee  the  plant  has  happily  escaped  from  man's  gardens  back 
to  Nature's. 

In  spite  of  its  American  Indian  name,  the  lovely  white  Cherokee 
rose  (R.  Sinica),  that  runs  wild  in  the  South,  climbing,  rambling 
and  rioting  with  a  truly  Oriental  abandon  and  luxuriance,  did  in- 
deed come  from  China.  Would  that  our  northern  thickets  and 
roadsides  might  be  decked  with  its  pure  flowers  and  almost 
equally  beautiful  dark,  glossy,  evergreen  leaves ! 


Common    Red,   Purple,    Meadow,    or    Honey- 
suckle Clover 

(Trt folium  pratense)  Pea  family 

Flowers — Magenta,  pink,  or  rarely  whitish,  sweet-scented,  the 
tubular  corollas  set  in  dense  round,  oval,  or  egg-shaped  heads 
about  i  in.  long,  and  seated  in  a  sparingly  hairy  calyx.  Stem :  6 
in.  to  2  ft.  high,  branching,  reclining,  or  erect,  more  or  less 
hairy.  Leaves:  On  long  petioles,  commonly  compounded  of 
3,  but  sometimes  of  4  to  1 1  oval  or  oblong  leaflets,  marked  with 
white  crescent,  often  dark-spotted  near  centre;  stipules  egg- 
shaped,  sharply  pointed,  strongly  veined,  over  /•£  in.  long. 

Preferred  Habitat — Fields,  meadows,  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — April — November. 

Distribution — Common  throughout  Canada  and  United  States. 

Meadows  bright  with  clover-heads  among  the  grasses,  daisies, 
and  buttercups  in  June  resound  with  the  murmur  of  unwearying 
industry  and  rapturous  enjoyment.  Bumblebees  by  the  tens  of 
thousands  buzzing  above  acres  of  the  farmer's  clover  blossoms 
should  be  happy  in  a  knowledge  of  their  benefactions,  which 
doubtless  concern  them  not  at  all.  They  have  never  heard  the 
story  of  the  Australians  who  imported  quantities  of  clover  for  fod- 
der, and  had  glorious  fields  of  it  that  season,  but  not  a  seed  to 
plant  next  year's  crops,  simply  because  the  farmers  had  failed  to 
import  the  bumblebee.  After  her  immigration  the  clovers  multi- 

101 


Magenta  to  Pink 

plied  prodigiously.  No;  the  bee's  happiness  rests  on  her  knowl- 
edge that  only  the  butterflies'  long  tongues  can  honestly  share  with 
her  the  brimming  wells  of  nectar  in  each  tiny  floret.  Children  who 
have  sucked  them  too  appreciate  her  rapture.  If  we  examine  a  little 
flower  under  the  magnifying  glass,  we  shall  see  why  its  struc- 
ture places  it  in  the  pea  family.  Bumblebees  so  depress  the  keel 
either  when  they  sip,  or  feed  on  pollen,  that  their  heads  and  tongues 
get  well  dusted  with  the  yellow  powder,  which  they  transfer  to  the 
stigmas  of  other  flowers;  whereas  the  butterflies  are  of  doubtful 
value,  if  not  injurious,  since  their  long,  slender  tongues  easily 
drain  the  nectar  without  depressing  the  keel.  Even  if  a  few  grains 
of  pollen  should  cling  to  their  tongues,  it  would  probably  be  wiped 
off  as  they  withdrew  them  through  the  narrow  slit,  where  the  petals 
nearly  meet,  at  the  mouth  of  the  flower.  Bombus  terrestris  de- 
lights in  nipping  holes  at  the  base  of  the  tube,  which  other  pilferers 
also  profit  by.  Our  country  is  so  much  richer  in  butterflies  than 
Europe,  it  is  scarcely  surprising  that  Professor  Robertson  found 
thirteen  Lepidoptera  out  of  twenty  insect  visitors  to  this  clover  in 
Illinois,  whereas  Muller  caught  only  eight  butterflies  on  it  out  of 
a  list  of  thirty-nine  visitors  in  Germany.  The  fritillaries  and  the 
sulphurs  are  always  seen  about  the  clover  fields  among  many 
others,  and  the  "'dusky  wings  "  and  the  caterpillar  of  several 
species  feeds  almost  exclusively  on  this  plant. 

"To  live  in  clover,"  from  the  insect  s  point  of  view  at  least, 
may  well  mean  a  life  of  luxury  and  affluence.  Most  peasants  in 
Europe  will  tell  you  that  a  dream  about  the  flower  foretells  not 
only  a  happy  marriage,  but  long  life  and  prosperity.  For  ages  the 
clover  has  been  counted  a  mystic  plant,  and  all  sorts  of  good  and 
bad  luck  were  said  to  attend  the  finding  of  variations  of  its  leaves 
which  had  more  than  the  common  number  of  leaflets.  At  even- 
ing these  leaflets  fold  downward,  the  side  ones  like  two  hands 
clasped  in  prayer,  the  end  one  bowed  over  them.  In  this  fashion 
the  leaves  of  the  white  and  other  clovers  also  go  to  sleep,  to  pro- 
tect their  sensitive  surfaces  from  cold  by  radiation,  it  is  thought. 

The  Zig-zag  Clover,  Cow  or  Marl-Grass  (T.  Medium),  a 
native  of  Europe  and  Asia,  now  naturalized  in  the  eastern  half 
of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  may  scarcely  be  told  from  the 
common  red  clover,  except  by  its  crooked,  angular  stems — often 
provokingly  straight — by  its  unspotted  leaves,  and  the  short  pe- 
duncle in  which  its  heads  are  elevated  above  the  calyx. 

Farmers  here  are  beginning  to  learn  the  value  of  the  beauti- 
ful Crimson,  Carnation,  Italian  Clover,  or  Napoleons  (T.  incarna- 
tum),  and  happily  there  are  many  fields  and  waste  places  in  the 
East  already  harboring  the  brilliant  runaways.  The  narrow  heads 
may  be  two  and  a  half  inches  long.  A  meadow  of  this  fodder 
plant  makes  one  envious  of  the  very  cattle  that  may  spend  the 
summer  day  wading  through  acres  of  its  deep  bright  bloom. 


GOAT'S    RUE 
(Cracca  Virginiana) 


f -n 


Magenta  to  Pink 

Coat's  Rue;  Cat-gut;  Hoary  Pea  or  Wild 
Sweet  Pea 

(Cracca  Virginiana)  Pea  family 
(Tephrosia  Virginiana  of  Gray) 

Flowers — In  terminal  cluster,  each  %  in.  long  or  over,  butterfly- 
shaped,  consisting  of  greenish,  cre^m-yellow  standard,  pur- 
plish-rose wings,  and  curved  keel  of  greenish  yellow  tinged 
with  rose;  petals  clawed;  10  stamens  (9  and  i);  calyx 
5-toothed.  Stem:  Hoary,  with  white,  silky  hairs,  rather 
woody,  i  to  2  feet  high.  Leaves:  Compounded  of  7  to  25 
oblong  leaflets.  Root:  Long,  fibrous,  tough.  Fruit:  A 
hoary,  narrow  pod,  i  to  2  in.  long. 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry,  sandy  soil,  edges  of  pine  woods. 

Flowering^  Season — June — July. 

Distribution — Southern  New  England,  westward  to  Minnesota, 
south  to  Florida,  Louisiana,  and  Mexico. 

Flowers  far  less  showy  and  attractive  than  this  denizen  of 
sandy  waste  lands,  a  cousin  of  the  wisteria  vine  and  the  locust 
tree,  have  been  introduced  to  American  gardens.  Striking  its 
long  fibrous  root  deep  into  the  dry  soil,  the  plant  spreads  in 
thrifty  clumps  through  heat  and  drought — and  so  tough  are  its 
fibres  they  might  almost  be  used  for  violin  strings.  As  in  the 
case  of  the  lupine,  the  partridge  pea  and  certain  others  akin  to 
it,  the  leaves  of  the  hoary  pea  "go  to  sleep"  at  night,  but  after 
a  manner  of  their  own,  i.e.,  by  lying  along  the  stem  and  turning 
on  their  own  bases. 

In  similar  situations  from  New  York  south  and  southwest- 
ward,  the  Milk  Pea  (Galactia  regularis  or  G.  glabella  of  Gray)  lies 
prostrate  along  the  ground,  the  matted,  usually  branched  stems 
sending  up  at  regular  intervals  a  raceme  of  rose-purple  flowers  in 
July  and  August  from  the  axil  of  the  trefoliate  leaf. 


Trailing-  Bush  Clover 

(Lespede^a  procumbens)  Pea  family 

Flowers — Purplish  pink  or  violet,  veined,  the  butterfly-shaped  ones 
having  standard  petal,  wings,  and  keel,  clustered  at  end  of 
peduncles ;  the  minute  flowers  lacking  a  corolla,  nearly  sessile. 
Calyx  of  5  slender,  nearly  equal  looes.  Stems:  Prostrate, 
trailing,  or  sometimes  ascending,  woolly  or  downy,  leafy. 
103 


Magenta  to  Pink 

Leaves:  Clover-like,  trefoliate.  Fruit:  A  very  small,  hairy, 
flat,  rounded,  acute  pod. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Dry  soil  ;  open,  sandy  places. 

Flowering  Season — August — September. 

Distribution— Massachusetts  to  the  Gulf,  and  westward  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi. 

Springing  upward  from  a  mass  of  clover-like  leaves,  these 
showy  little  blossoms  elevate  themselves  to  arrest,  not  our  atten- 
tion, but  the  notice  of  the  passing  bee.  As  the  claw  of  the  stan- 
dard petal  and  the  calyx  are  short,  he  need  not  have  a  long  tongue 
to  drain  the  nectary  pointed  out  to  him  by  a  triangular  white 
mark  at  the  base  of  the  banner.  Now,  as  his  weight  depresses 
the  incurved  keel,  wherein  the  vital  organs  are  protected,  the 
stigma  strikes  the  visitor  in  advance  of  the  anthers,  so  that  pollen 
brought  on  his  underside  from  another  flower  must  come  off  on 
this  one  before  he  receives  fresh  pollen  to  transfer  to  a  third  blos- 
som. At  first  the  keel  returns  to  its  original  position  when  de- 
presssed  ;  later  it  loses  its  elasticity.  But  besides  these  showy 
flowers  intended  to  be  cross-fertilized  by  insects,  the  bush  clovers 
bear,  among  the  others,  insignificant-looking,  tightly  closed,  bud- 
like  ones  that  produce  abundant  self-fertilized  seed.  The  petal- 
iferous  flowers  are  simply  to  counteract  the  inevitable  evils  result- 
ing from  close  inbreeding.  One  usually  finds  caterpillars  of  the 
"dusky  wings"  butterfly  feeding  on  the  foliage  and  the  similar 
tick  trefoils  which  are  its  staple.  At  night  the  bush  clover  leaves 
turn  upward,  completely  changing  the  aspect  of  these  plants  as 
we  know  them  by  day.  Michaux  named  the  group  of  flowers  for 
his  patron,  Lespedez,  a  governor  of  Florida  under  the  Spanish 
regime. 

Perhaps  the  commonest  of  the  tribe  is  the  Violet  Bush  Clover 
(L  violaced),  a  variable,  branching,  erect,  or  spreading  plant, 
sometimes  only  a  foot  high,  or  again  three  times  as  tall.  Its  thin 
leaves  are  more  elliptic  than  the  decidedly  clover-like  ones  of  the 
preceding  species  ;  its  rose-purple  flowers  are  more  loosely  clus- 
tered, and  the  stems  are  only  sparingly  hairy,  never  woolly. 

On  the  top  of  the  erect,  usually  unbranched,  but  very  leafy 
stem  of  the  Wand-like  Bush  Clover  (L.  frutescens),  the  two 
kinds  of  flowers  grow  in  a  crowded  cluster,  and  more  sparingly 
from  the  axils  below.  The  clover-like  leaflets,  dark  green  and 
smooth  above,  are  paler  and  hairy  below.  Like  the  rest  of  its 
kin,  this  bush  clover  delights  in  'dry  soil,  particularly  in  open, 
sandy  places  near  woods  of  pine  and  oak.  One  readily  distin- 
guishes the  Slender  Bush  Clover  (L.  Virginica)  by  the  very  nar- 
rowly oblong  leaves  along  its  wand,  which  bears  two  kinds  of 
bright  rose  flowers,  clustered  at  the  top  chiefly,  and  in  the  axils. 

Yellowish-white  flowers,  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  long, 
and  with  a  purplish-rose  spot  on  the  standard  petal  to  serve  as  a 

104 


Magenta  to  Pink 

pathfinder  to  the  nectary,  are  crowded  in  oblong  spikes  an  inch 
and  a  half  long  or  less  on  the  Hairy  Bush  Clover  (L.  hirta).  The 
stem,  which  may  attain  four  feet,  or  half  that  height,  is  usually 
branched  ;  and  the  entire  plant  is  often  downy  to  the  point  of 
silkiness. 

Dense  clusters  of  the  yellowish-white  flowers  of  the  Round- 
headed  Bush  Clover  (L.  capitata)  are  seated  in  the  upper  axils  of 
the  silvery-hairy,  wand-like  stem.  Pink  streaks  at  the  base  of 
the  standard  petal  serve  as  pathfinders,  and  its  infolded  edges 
guide  the  bee's  tongue  straight  to  the  opening  in  the  stamen  tube 
through  which  he  sucks. 


Wild  or  Spotted  Geranium  or  Crane's-Bill ; 
Alum-root 

(Geranium  maculatum)  Geranium  family 

Flowers — Pale  magenta,  purplish  pink,  or  lavender,  regular,  i  to 
\y2  in.  broad,  solitary  or  a  pair,  borne  on  elongated  pe- 
duncles, generally  with  pair  of  leaves  at  their  base.  Calyx  of 
5  lapping,  pointed  sepals  ;  5  petals,  woolly  at  base  ;  10  sta- 
mens ;  i  pistil  with  5  styles.  Fruit:  A  slender  capsule 
pointed  like  a  crane's  bill.  In  maturity  it  ejects  seeds  elas- 
tically  far  from  the  parent  plant.  Stem  :  i  to  2  ft.  high,  hairy, 
slender,  simple  or  branching  above.  Leaves:  Older  ones 
sometimes  spotted  with  white  ;  basal  ones  3  to  6  in.  wide,  3 
to  5  parted,  variously  cleft  and  toothed  ;  2  stem  leaves  oppo- 
site. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Open  woods,  thickets,  and  shady  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — April — July. 

Distribution — Newfoundland  to  Georgia,  and  westward  a  thousand 
miles. 

Sprengel,  who  was  the  first  to  exalt  flowers  above  the  level 
of  mere  botanical  specimens,  had  his  attention  led  to  the  intimate 
relationship  existing  between  plants  and  insects  by  studying  out 
the  meaning  of  the  hairy  corolla  of  the  common  wild  geranium 
of  Germany  (G.  sylvaticum) ,  being  convinced,  as  he  wrote  in 
1787,  that  "  the  wise  Author  of  Nature  has  not  made  even  a  sin- 
gle hair  without  a  definite  design."  A  hundred  years  before, 
Nehemias  Grew  had  said  that  it  was  necessary  for  pollen  to  reach 
the  stigma  of  a  flower  in  order  that  it  might  set  fertile  seed  ;  and 
Linnaeus  had  to  come  to  his  aid  with  conclusive  evidence  to  con- 
vince a  doubting  world  that  this  was  true.  Sprengel  made  the 
next  step  forward,  but  his  writings  lay  neglected  over  seventy 
years  because  he  advanced  the  then  incredible  and  only  partially 
true  statement  that  a  flower  is  fertilized  by  insects  which  carry 

105 


Magenta  to  Pink 

its  pollen  from  its  anthers  to  its  stigma.  In  spite  of  his  discov- 
eries that  the  hairs  inside  the  geranium's  corolla  protect  its  nectar 
from  rain  for  the  insect's  benefit,  just  as  eyebrows  keep  perspira- 
tion from  falling  into  the  eye  ;  that  most  flowers  which  secrete 
nectar  have  what  he  termed  "honey  guides" — spots  of  bright 
color,  heavy  veining,  or  some  such  pathfinder  on  the  petals — in 
spite  of  the  most  patient  and  scientific  research  that  shed  great 
light  on  natural  selection  a  half-century  before  Darwin  advanced 
the  theory,  he  left  it  for  the  author  of  "  The  Origin  of  Species" 
to  show  that  cross-fertilization — the  transfer  of  pollen  from  one 
blossom  to  another,  not  from  anthers  to  stigma  of  the  same 
flower — is  the  great  end  to  which  so  much  marvellous  mechan- 
ism is  chiefly  adapted.  Cross-fertilized  blossoms  defeat  self- 
fertilized  flowers  in  the  struggle  for  existence. 

No  wonder  Sprengel's  theory  was  disproved  by  his  scorn- 
ful contemporaries  in  the  very  case  of  his  wild  geranium,  which 
sheds  its  pollen  before  it  has  developed  a  stigma  to  receive  any  ; 
therefore  no  insect  that  had  not  brought  pollen  from  an  earlier 
bloom  could  possibly  fertilize  this  flower.  How  amazing  that  he 
did  not  see  this  !  Our  common  wild  crane's-bill,  which  also  has 
lost  the  power  to  fertilize  itself,  not  only  ripens  first  the  outer,  then 
the  inner,  row  of  anthers,  but  actually  drops  them  off  after  their 
pollen  has  been  removed,  to  overcome  the  barest  chance  of  self- 
fertilization  as  the  stigmas  become  receptive.  This  is  the  geranium's 
and  many  other  flowers'  method  to  compel  cross-fertilization  by 
insects.  In  cold,  stormy,  cloudy  weather  a  geranium  blossom 
may  remain  in  the  male  stage  several  days  before  becoming 
female  ;  while  on  a  warm,  sunny  day,  when  plenty  of  insects 
are  flying,  the  change  sometimes  takes  place  in  a  few  hours. 
Among  others,  the  common  sulphur  or  puddle  butterfly,  that  sits 
in  swarms  on  muddy  roads  and  makes  the  clover  fields  gay 
with  its  bright  little  wings,  pilfers  nectar  from  the  geranium 
without  bringing  its  long  tongue  in  contact  with  the  pollen. 
Neither  do  the  smaller  bees  and  flies  which  alight  on  the  pet- 
als necessarily  come  in  contact  with  the  anthers  and  stigmas. 
Doubtless  the  larger  bees  are  the  flowers'  true  benefactors. 

The  so-called  geraniums  in  cultivation  are  pelargoniums, 
strictly  speaking. 

In  barren  soil,  from  Canada  to  the  Gulf,  and  far  westward, 
the  Carolina  Crane's-Bill  (G.  CaroUnianu"-i) .  an  erect,  much- 
branched  little  plant  resembling  the  spotted  geranium  in  general 
features,  bears  more  compact  clusters  of  pale  rose  or  whitish 
flowers,  barely  half  an  inch  across.  As  their  inner  row  of  anthers 
comes  very  close  to  the  stigmas,  spontaneous  self-fertilization 
may  sometimes  occur  ;  although  in  fine  weather  small  bees,  es- 
pecially, visit  them  constantly.  The  beak  of  the  seed  vessel 
measures  nearly  an  inch  long. 

106 


Magenta  to  Pink 

Herb  Robert;  Red  Robin;  Red  Shanks; 
Dragon's  Blood 

(Geranium  Robertiamim]  Geranium  family 

flowers — Purplish  rose,  about  Y*  in.  across,  borne  chiefly  in  pairs  on 
slender  peduncles.  Five  sepals  and  petals;  stamens  10;  pistil 
with  5  styles.  Stem :  Weak,  slender,  much  branched,  forked, 
and  spreading,  slightly  hairy,  6  to  18  in.  high.  Leaves: 
Strongly  scented,  opposite,  thin,  of  3  divisions,  much  sub- 
divided and  cleft.  Fruit:  Capsular,  elastic,  the  beak  i  in. 
long,  awn-pointed. 

ferferrcd  Habitat — Rocky,  moist  woods  and  shady  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — May — October. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Pennsylvania,  and  westward  to  Mis- 
souri. 

Who  was  the  Robert  for  whom  this  his  "holy  herb"  was 
named  ?  Many  suppose  that  he  was  St.  Robert,  a  Benedictine 
monk,  to  whom  the  twenty-ninth  of  April — the  day  the  plant 
comes  into  flower  in  Europe — is  dedicated.  Others  assert  that 
Robert  Duke  of  Normandy,  for  whom  the  "  Ortus  Sanitatis,"  a 
standard  medical  guide  for  some  hundred  of  years,  was  written, 
is  the  man  honored  ;  and  since  there  is  now  no  way  of  deciding 
the  mooted  question,  we  may  take  our  choice. 

Only  when  the  stems  are  young  are  they  green  ;  later  the 
plant  well  earns  the  name  of  red  shanks,  and  when  its  leaves  show 
crimson  stains,  of  dragon's  blood. 

At  any  time  the  herb  gives  forth  a  disagreeable  odor,  but 
especially  when  its  leaves  and  stem  have  been  crushed  until  they 
emit  a  resinous  secretion  once  an  alleged  cure  for  the  plague. 
Flies,  that  never  object  to  a  noxious  smell,  constantly  visit  the 
flower,  and  have  their  tongues  guided  through  passages  between 
little  ridge-like  processes  on  each  petal  to  the  nectar  secreted  by 
the  base  of  the  filaments  at  the  base  of  each  sepal.  To  prevent 
self-fertilization,  the  five  stigmas  are  folded  close  together  when 
the  flower  opens,  nor  do  they  spread  apart  and  become  receptive 
until  after  the  outer  row  of  anthers,  then  the  inner  row,  have  shed 
their  pollen.  When  the  elastic  carpels  have  ripened  their  seed, 
bang  !  go  the  little  guns,  scattering  them  far  and  wide. 


White  or  True  Wood-sorrel ;  Alleluia 

(Oxalis  acetosella)  Wood-sorrel  family 

flowers — White  or  delicate  pink,  veined  with  deep  pink,  about  % 
in.  long.     Five  sepals;  5  spreading  petals  rounded  at  tips;  10 
107 


Magenta  to  Pink 

stamens,  5  longer,  5  shorter,  all  anther-bearing;  i  pistil  with 
5  stigmatic  styles.  Scape:  Slender,  leafless,  I -flowered,  2  to 
5  in.  high.  Leaf:  Clover-like,  of  3  leaflets,  on  long  petioles 
from  scaly,  creeping  rootstock. 

Preferred  Habitat — Cold,   damp  woods. 

Flowering  Season — May — July. 

Distribution— Nova  Scotia  and  Manitoba,  southward  to  North  Caro- 
lina. Also  a  native  of  Europe. 

Clumps  of  these  delicate  little  pinkish  blossoms  and  abundant 
leaves,  cuddled  close  to  the  cold  earth  of  northern  forests,  usually 
conceal  near  the  dry  leaves  or  moss  from  which  they  spring  blind 
flowers  that  never  open — cleistogamous  the  botanists  call  them — 
flowers  that  lack  petals,  as  if  they  were  immature  buds;  that  lack 
odor,  nectar,  and  entrance ;  yet  they  are  perfectly  mature,  self-fer- 
tilized, and  abundantly  fruitful.  Fifty-five  genera  of  plants  con- 
tain one  or  more  species  on  which  these  peculiar  products  are 
found,  the  pea  family  having  more  than  any  other,  although  vio- 
lets offer  perhaps  the  most  familiar  instance  to  most  of  us.  Many 
of  these  species  bury  their  offspring  below  ground ;  but  the  wood- 
sorrel  bears  its  blind  flowers  nodding  from  the  top  of  a  curved 
scape  at  the  base  of  the  plant,  where  we  can  readily  find  them. 
By  having  no  petals,  and  other  features  assumed  by  an  ordinary 
flower  to  attract  insects,  and  chiefly  in  saving  pollen,  they  produce 
seed  with  literally  the  closest  economy.  It  is  estimated  that  the 
average  blind  flower  of  the  wood-sorrel  does  its  work  with  four 
hundred  pollen  grains,  while  the  prodigal  peony  scatters  with  the 
help  of  wind  and  insect  visitors  over  three  and'a  half  millions! 

Yet  no  plant,  however  economically  inclined,  can  afford  to 
deteriorate  its  species  through  self-fertilization ;  therefore,  to  over- 
come the  evils  of  in-breeding,  the  wood-sorrel,  like  other  plants 
that  bear  cleistogamous  flowers,  takes  special  pains  to  produce 
showy  blossoms  to  attract  insects,  on  which  they  absolutely  de- 
pend to  transfer  their  pollen  from  flower  to  flower.  These  have 
their  organs  so  arranged  as  to  make  self-fertilization  impossible. 

Every  child  knows  how  the  wood-sorrel  "  goes  to  sleep  "  by 
drooping  its  three  leaflets  until  they  touch  back  to  back  at  even- 
ing, regaining  the  horizontal  at  sunrise — a  performance  most  scien- 
tists now  agree  protects  the  peculiarly  sensitive  leaf  from  cold  by 
radiation.  During  the  day,  as  well,  seedling,  scape,  and  leaves  go 
through  some  interesting  movements,  closely  followed  by  Darwin 
in  his  "  Power  of  Movement  in  Plants,"  which  should  be  read  by 
all  interested. 

Oxalt's,  the  Greek  for  sour,  applies  to  all  sorrels  because  of 
their  acid  juice;  but  acetosella  =  vinegar  salt,  the  specific  name 
of  this  plant,  indicates  that  from  it  druggists  obtain  salt  of  lemons. 
Twenty  pounds  of  leaves  yield  between  two  and  three  ounces  of 
oxalic  acid  by  crystallization.  Names  locally  given  th&  plant  in 

1 08 


Magenta  to  Pink 

the  Old  World  are  wood  sour  or  sower,  cuckoo's  meat,  sour  tre- 
foil, and  shamrock — for  this  is  St.  Patrick's  own  flower,  the  true 
shamrock  of  the  ancient  Irish,  some  claim.  Alleluia,  another  folk- 
name,  refers  to  the  joyousness  of  the  Easter  season,  when  the  plant 
comes  into  bloom  in  England. 


Violet  Wood-sorrel 

(Oxalis  violaced)  Wood-sorrel  family 

Flowers — Pinkish  purple,  lavender,  or  pale  magenta  ;  less  than 
i  in.  long;  borne  on  slender  stems  in  umbels  or  forking 
clusters,  each  containing  from  3  to  12  flowers.  Calyx  of  5 
obtuse  sepals;  5  petals;  10  (5  longer,  5  shorter)  stamens; 
5  styles  persistent  above  5-celled  ovary.  Stem :  From  brown- 
ish, scaly  bulb  4  to  9  in.  high.  Leaves :  About  i  in.  wide, 
compounded  of  3  rounded,  clover-like  leaflets  with  prominent 
midrib,  borne  at  end  of  slender  petioles,  springing  from  root. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rocky  and  sandy  woods. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution — Northern  United  States  tc  Rocky  Mountains,  south  to 
Florida  and  New  Mexico;  more  abundant  southward. 

Beauty  of  leaf  and  blossom  is  not  the  only  attraction  possessed 
by  this  charming  little  plant.  As  a  family  the  wood-sorrels  have 
great  interest  for  botanists  since  Darwin  devoted  such  exhaustive 
study  to  their  power  of  movement,  and  many  other  scientists  have 
described  the  several  forms  assumed  by  perfect  flowers  of  the  same 
species  to  secure  cross-fertilization.  Some  members  of  the  clan  also 
bear  blind  flowers,  which  have  been  described  in  the  account  of  the 
white  wood-sorrel  given  above.  Even  the  rudimentary  leaves  of 
the  seedlings  "  go  to  sleep  "  at  evening,  and  during  the  day  are  in 
constant  movement  up  and  down.  The  stems,  too,  are  restless; 
and  as  for  the  mature  leaves,  every  child  knows  how  they  droop 
their  three  leaflets  back  to  back  against  the  stem  at  evening,  elevat- 
ing them  to  the  perfect  horizontal  again  by  day.  Extreme  sensi- 
tiveness to  light  has  been  thought  to  be  the  true  explanation  of  so 
much  activity,  and  yet  this  is  not  a  satisfactory  theory  in  many 
cases.  It  is  certain  that  drooping  leaves  suffer  far  less  from  frost 
than  those  whose  upper  surfaces  are  flatly  exposed  to  the  zenith. 
This  view  that  the  sleep  of  leaves  saves  them  from  being  chilled  at 
night  by  radiation  is  Darwin's  own,  supported  by  innumerable  ex- 
periments ;  and  probably  it  would  have  been  advanced  by  Linnaeus, 
too,  since  so  many  of  his  observations  in  "Somnus  Plantarum  " 
verify  the  theory,  had  the  principle  of  radiation  been  discovered  in 
his  day. 

The  violet  wood-sorrel  produces  two  sorts  of  perfect  flowers 


Magenta  to  Pink 

reciprocally  adapted  to  each  other,  but  on  different  plants  in  the 
same  neighborhood.  The  two  are  essentially  alike,  except  in  ar- 
rangement of  stamens  and  pistil;  one  flower  having  high  anthers 
and  low  stigmas,  the  other  having  lower  anthers  and  higher  stig- 
mas; and  as  the  high  stigmas  are  fertile  only  when  pollenized  with 
Drains  from  a  flower  having  high  anthers,  it  is  evident  insect  aid  to 
transfer  pollen  is  indispensable  here.  Small  bees,  which  visit  these 
blossoms  abundantly,  are  their  benefactors;  although  there  is  noth- 
ing to  prevent  pollen  from  falling  on  the  stigmas  of  the  short-styled 
form.  Hildebrand  proved  that  productiveness  is  greatest,  or  exists 
only,  after  legitimate  fertilization.  To  accomplish  cross-pollination, 
many  plants  bear  flowers  of  opposite  sexes  on  different  individuals ; 
but  the  violet  wood-sorrel's  plan,  utilized  by  the  bluet  and  partridge- 
vine  also,  has  the  advantage  in  that  both  kinds  of  its  flowers  are 
fruitful. 


Common,  Field,   or  Purple   Milkwort;    Purple 
Polygala 

(Polygala  viridescens)  Milkwort  family 
(P.  sanguined  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Numerous,  very  small,  variable  ;  bright  magenta,  pink,  or 
almost  red,  or  pale  to  whiteness,  or  greenish,  clustered  in  a 
globular  clover-like  head,  gradually  lengthening  to  a  cylindric 
spike.  Stem:  6  to  15  in.  high,  smooth,  branched  above, 
leafy.  Leaves:  Alternate,  narrowly  oblong,  entire. 

Preferred  Habitat — Fields  and  meadows,  moist  or  sandy. 

Flowering  Season — June — September. 

Distribution — Southern  Canada  to  North  Carolina,  westward  to 
the  Mississippi. 

When  these  bright  clover-like  heads  and  the  inconspicuous 
greenish  ones  grow  together,  the  difference  between  them  is  so 
striking  it  is  no  wonder  Linnaeus  thought  they  were  borne  by 
two  distinct  species,  sanguined  and  viridescens,  whereas  they  are 
now  known  to  be  merely  two  forms  of  the  same  flower.  At  first 
glance  one  might  mistake  the  irregular  little  blossom  for  a  mem- 
ber of  the  pea  family ;  two  of  the  five  very  unequal  sepals— not 
petals — are  colored  wings.  These  bright-hued  calyx-parts  over- 
lap around  the  flower-head  like  tiles  on  a  roof.  Within  each 
pair  of  wings  are  three  petals  united  into  a  tube,  split  on  the  back, 
to  expose  the  vital  organs  to  contact  with  the  bee,  the  milkwort's 
best  friend. 

Plants  of  this  genus  were  named  polygala,  the  Greek  for 
much  milk,  not  because  they  have  milky  juice — for  it  is  bitter  and 


Magenta  to  Pink 

clear — but  because  feeding  on  them  is  supposed  to  increase  the 
flow  of  cattle's  milk. 

In  sandy  swamps,  especially  near  the  coast  from  Maine  to 
the  Gulf,  and  westward  to  the  Mississippi,  grows  the  Marsh  or 
Cross-leaved  Milkwort  (P.  cruciata).  Most  of  its  leaves,  espe- 
cially the  lower  ones,  are  in  whorls  of  four,  and  from  July  to 
September  its  dense,  bright  purple-pink,  white,  or  greenish  flower- 
heads,  the  wings  awn-pointed,  are  seated  on  the  ends  of  the 
square  branching  stem  of  this  low,  mossy  little  plant. 


Fringed  Milkwort  or  Polygala;  Flowering  Win- 
tergreen  ;  Gay  Wings 

(Polygala  paucifolid)  Milkwort  family 

Flowers — Purplish  rose,  rarely  white,  showy,  over  ^  in.  long, 
from  i  to  4  on  short,  slender  peduncles  from  among  upper 
leaves.  Calyx  of  5  unequal  sepals,  of  which  2  are  wing-like 
and  highly  colored  like  petals.  Corolla  irregular,  its  crest 
finely  fringed;  6  stamens;  i  pistil.  Also  pale,  pouch-like, 
cleistogamous  flowers  underground.  Stem :  Prostrate,  6  to 
1 5  in.  long,  slender,  from  creeping  rootstock,  sending  up 
flowering  snoots  4  to  7  in.  high.  Leaves  :  Clustered  at  sum- 
mit, oblong,  or  pointed  egg-shaped,  i%  in.  long  or  less  ; 
those  on  lower  part  of  shoots  scale-like. 

Preferred  Habitat — Moist,  rich  woods,  pine  lands,  light  soil. 

Flowering^  Season — May — July. 

Distribution — Northern  Canada,  southward  and  westward  to 
Georgia  and  Illinois. 

Gay  companies  of  these  charming,  bright  little  blossoms  hid- 
den away  in  the  woods  suggest  a  swarm  of  tiny  mauve  butter- 
flies that  have  settled  among  the  wintergreen  leaves.  Unlike 
the  common  milkwort  and  many  of  its  kin  that  grow  in  clover- 
like  heads,  each  one  of  the  gay  wings  has  beauty  enough  to  stand 
alone.  Its  oddity  of  structure,  its  lovely  color  and  enticing  fringe, 
lead  one  to  suspect  it  of  extraordinary  desire  to  woo  some  insect 
that  will  carry  its  pollen  from  blossom  to  blossom  and  so  enable 
the  plant  to  produce  cross-fertilized  seed  to  counteract  the  evil 
tendencies  resulting  from  the  more  prolific  self-fertilized  cleis- 
togamous flowers  buried  in  the  ground  below.  It  has  been  said 
that  the  fringed  polygala  keeps  "one  flower  for  beauty  and  one 
for  use";  "  one  playful  flower  for  the  world,  another  for  serious 
use  and  posterity  "  ;  but  surely  the  showy  flowers,  the  "giddy 
sisters,"  borne  by  all  cleistogamous  species  to  save  them  from 
degenerating  through  close  inbreeding,  are  no  idle,  irresponsible 


Magenta  to  Pink 

beauties.  Let  us  watch  a  bumblebee  as  she  alights  on  the  con- 
venient fringe  which  edges  the  lower  petal  of  this  milkwort. 
Now  the  weight  of  her  body  so  depresses  the  keel,  or  tubular 
petals,  wherein  the  stamens  and  pistil  lie  protected  from  the  rain 
and  useless  insects,  that  as  soon  as  it  is  pressed  downward  a  spoon- 
tipped  pistil  pushes  out  the  pollen  through  the  slit  on  the  top  on 
the  bee's  abdomen.  The  stigmatic  surface  of  the  pistil  is  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  spoon,  nearest  the  base  of  the  flower,  to  guard 
against  self-pollination.  After  the  pollen  has  been  removed,  a 
bumblebee,  already  dusted  from  other  blossoms,  must  leave  some 
on  the  stigma  as  she  sucks  the  nectar.  Indeed,  every  feature  pos- 
sessed by  this  pretty  flower  has  been  developed  for  the  most  seri- 
ous purpose  of  life — the  salvation  of  the  species. 

Only  locally  common  throughout  a  wide  area,  embracing  the 
eastern  half  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  is  the  Racemed 
Milkwort  (P.  polygama),  whose  small,  purple-pink,  but  showy 
flowers,  clustered  along  the  upper  part  of  numerous  leafy  stems, 
are  found  in  dry  soil  during  June  and  July.  Like  the  fringed 
milkwort,  this  one  bears  many  cleistogamous,  or  blind  flowers, 
on  underground  branches,  flowers  that  always  set  an  abundance 
of  fertile  self-planted  seed  in  case  of  failure  to  form  any  on  the 
part  of  their  showy  sisters,  which  are  utterly  dependent  upon  the 
bee's  ministrations.  During  prolonged  stormy  weather  few  in- 
sects are  abroad. 


Swamp  Rose-mallow;   Mallow  Rose 

(Hibiscus  Moscheutos)  Mallow  family 

Flowers — Very  large,  clear  rose  pink,  sometimes  white,  often  with 
crimson  centre,  4  to  7  in.  across,  solitary,  or  clustered  on 
peduncles  at  summit  of  stems.  Calyx  5-cleft,  subtended  by 
numerous  narrow  bractlets  ;  5  large,  veined  petals  ;  stamens 
united  into  a  valvular  column  bearing  anthers  on  the  outside 
for  much  of  its  length  ;  i  pistil  partly  enclosed  in  the  column, 
and  with  five  button-tipped  stigmatic  branches  above.  Stem  : 
4  to  7  ft.  tall,  stout,  from  perennial  root.  Leaves:  3  to  7  in. 
long,  tapering,  pointed,  egg-shaped,  densely  white,  downy 
beneath  ;  lower  leaves,  or  sometimes  all,  lobed  at  middle. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Brackish  marshes,  riversides,  lake  shores,  saline 
situations. 

Flowering  Season — August — September. 

Distribution— Massachusetts  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  westward  to 
Louisiana  ;  found  locally  in  the  interior,  but  chiefly  along 
Atlantic  seaboard. 

113 


Magenta  to  Pink 

Stately  ranks  of  these  magnificent  flowers,  growing  among 
the  tall  sedges  and  "  cat-tails"  of  the  marshes,  make  the  most  in- 
sensate traveller  exclaim  at  their  amazing  loveliness.  To  reach 
them  one  must  don  rubber  boots  and  risk  sudden  seats  in  the 
slippery  ooze  ;  nevertheless,  with  spade  in  hand  to  give  one  sup- 
port, it  is  well  worth  while  to  seek  them  out  and  dig  up  some 
roots  to  transplant  to  the  garden.  Here,  strange  to  say,  without 
salt  soil  or  more  water  than  the  average  garden  receives  from 
showers  and  hose,  this  handsomest  of  our  wild  flowers  soon 
makes  itself  delightfully  at  home  under  cultivation.  Such  good, 
deep  earth,  well  enriched  and  moistened,  as  the  hollyhock  thrives 
in,  suits  it  perfectly.  Now  we  have  a  better  opportunity  to  note 
how  the  bees  suck  the  five  nectaries  at  the  base  of  the  petals  and 
collect  the  abundant  pollen  of  the  newly  opened  flowers,  which 
they  perforce  transfer  to  the  five  button-shaped  stigmas  intention- 
ally impeding  the  entrance  to  older  blossoms.  Only  its  cousin 
the  hollyhock,  a  native  of  China,  can  vie  with  the  rose-mallow's 
decorative  splendor  among  the  shrubbery;  and  the  Rose  of  China 
(Hibiscus  Rosa-Sinensis),  cultivated  in  greenhouses  here,  eclipse 
it  in  the  beauty  of  the  individual  blossom.  This  latter  flower, 
whose  superb  scarlet  corolla  stains  black,  is  employed  by  the 
Chinese  married  women,  it  is  said,  to  discolor  their  teeth  ;  but  in 
the  West  Indies  it  sinks  to  even  greater  ignominy  as  a  dauber  for 
blacking  shoes  ! 

Marsh  Mallow  (Althaea  officinalis),  a  name  frequently  mis- 
applied to  the  swamp  rose-mallow,  is  properly  given  to  a  much 
smaller  pink  flower,  measuring  only  an  inch  and  a  half  across  at 
the  most,  and  a  far  rarer  one,  being  a  naturalized  immigrant  from 
Europe  found  only  in  the  salt  marshes  from  the  Massachusetts 
coast  to  New  York.  It  is  also  known  as  Wymote.  This  is  a 
bushy,  leafy  plant,  two  to  four  feet  high,  and  covered  with  velvety 
down  as  a  protection  against  the  clogging  of  its  pores  by  the 
moisture  arising  from  its  wet  retreats.  Plants  that  live  in  swamps 
must  "perspire"  freely  and  keep  their  pores  open.  From  the 
marsh  mallow's  thick  roots  the  mucilage  used  in  confectionery  is 
obtained,  a  soothing  demulcent  long  esteemed  in  medicine.  An- 
other relative,  the  okra  or  gumbo  plant  of  vegetable  gardens 
(Hibiscus  esculentus),  has  mucilage  enough  in  its  narrow  pods 
to  thicken  a  potful  of  soup.  Its  pale  yellow,  crimson-centred 
flowers  are  quite  as  beautiful  as  any  hollyhock,  but  not  nearly  so 
conspicuous,  because  of  the  plant's  bushy  habit  of  growth.  In 
spite  of  its  name,  the  Althaea  of  our  gardens,  or  Rose  of  Sharon 
(Hibiscus  Syriacus),  is  not  so  closely  allied  to  Althaea  officinalis 
as  to  the  swamp  rose-mallow. 

Another  immigrant  from  Europe  and  Asia  sparingly  natural- 
ized in  waste  places  and  roadsides  in  Canada,  the  United  States, 

8  113 


Magenta  to  Pink 

and  Mexico  is  the  Common  High  Mallow,  Cheeseflower,  or  Round 
Dock  (Malva  sylvestris}.  Its  purplish-rose  flowers,  from  which 
the  French  have  derived  their  word  mauve,  first  applied  to  this 
plant,  appear  in  small  clusters  on  slender  pedicels  from  the  leaf 
axils  along  a  leafy,  rather  weak,  but  ascending  stem,  maybe  only 
a  foot  high,  or  perhaps  a  yard,  throughout  the  summer  months. 
The  leaf,  borne  on  a  petiole  two  to  six  inches  long,  is  divided 
into  from  five  to  nine  shallow,  angular,  or  rounded  saw-edged 
lobes.  Country  children  eat  unlimited  quantities  of  the  harmless 
little  circular,  flattened  "cheeses"  or  seed  vessels,  a  characteristic 
of  the  genus  Malva.  Since  the  flower  invites  a  great  number  of 
insects  to  feast  on  its  nectar,  secreted  in  five  little  pits  (protected 
for  them  from  the  rain  by  hairs  at  the  base  of  the  petals),  and 
compels  its  visitors  to  wipe  off  pollen  brought  from  the  pyramidal 
group  of  anthers  in  a  newly  opened  blossom  to  the  exserted, 
radiating  stigmas  of  older  ones,  the  mallow  produces  more 
cheeses  than  all  the  dairies  of  the  world.  So  rich  is  its  store  of 
nectar  that  the  hive-bee,  shut  out  from  a  legitimate  entrance  to 
the  flower  when  it  closes  in  the  late  afternoon,  climbs  up  the 
outside  of  the  calyx,  and  inserting  his  tongue  between  the  five 
petals,  empties  the  nectaries  one  after  another — intelligent  rogue 
that  he  is! 

The  Low,  Dwarf,  or  Running  Mallow  (A/,  rotundifolta),  a 
very  common  little  weed  throughput  our  territory,  Europe,  and 
Asia,  depends  scarcely  at  all  upon  insects  to  transfer  its  pollen,  as 
might  be  inferred  from  its  unattractive  pale  blue  to  white  flowers, 
that  measure  only  about  half  an  inch  across.  In  default  of  visitors, 
its  pollen-laden  anthers,  instead  of  drooping  to  get  put  of  the  way 
of  the  stigmas,  as  in  the  showy  high  mallow,  remain  extended  so 
as  to  come  in  contact  with  the  rough,  sticky  sides  of  the  long  curl- 
ing stigmas.  The  leaves  of  this  spreading  plant,  which  are  nearly 
round,  with  five  to  nine  shallow,  saw-edged  lobes,  are  thin,  and  fur- 
nished with  long  petioles;  whereas  the  flowers  which  spring  from 
their  axils  keep  close  to  the  main  stem.  Usually  there  are  about  fif- 
teen rounded  carpels  that  go  to  make  up  the  Dutch,  doll,  or  fairy 
cheeses,  as  the  seed  vessels  are  called  by  children.  Only  once  is  the 
mallow  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  and  then  as  food  for  the  most  abject 
and  despised  poor  (Job  xxx.  4) ;  but  as  eighteen  species  of  mallow 
grow  in  Palestine,  who  is  the  higher  critic  to  name  the  species 
eaten  ? 

Occasionally  we  meet  by  the  roadside  in  Canada,  the  East- 
ern, Middle,  and  Southern  States  pink,  sometimes  white,  flowers, 
about  two  inches  across,  growing  in  small  clusters  at  the  top  of  a 
stem  a  foot  or  two  high,  the  whole  plant  emitting  a  faint  odor  of 
musk,  If  the  stem  leaves  are  deeply  divided  into  several  narrow, 


SWAMP  ROSE-MALLOW. 
(Hibiscus  Moscheutos.) 


Magenta  to  Pink 

much-cleft  segments,  and  the  little  cheeses  are  densely  hairy,  we 
may  safely  call  the  plant  Musk  Mallow  (M.  moschatd),  and  expect 
to  find  it  blooming  throughout  the  summer. 


Marsh  St.-John's-wort 

(Triadenum  Virginicum)  St.-John's-wort  family 
(Elodea  Virginica  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Pale  magenta,  pink,  or  flesh  color,  about  j^  in.  across,  in 
terminal  clusters,  or  from  leaf  axils.  Calyx  of  5  equal  sepals, 
persistent  on  fruit ;  5  petals ;  9  or  more  stamens  united  in  3  sets ; 
pistil  of  3  distinct  styles.  Stem:  i  to  i/4  ft.  high,  simple, 
leafy.  Leaves :  Opposite,  pale,  with  black,  glandular  dots, 
broadly  oblong,  entire  edged,  seated  on  stem  or  clasping  by 
heart-shaped  base.  Fruit:  An  oblong,  acute,  deep  red 
capsule. 

Preferred  Habitat — Swamps  and  cranberry  bogs. 

Flowering  Season — July — September. 

Distribution — Labrador  to  the  Gulf,  and  westward  to  Nebraska. 

Late  in  the  summer,  after  the  rather  insignificant  pink  flowers 
have  withered,  this  low  plant,  which  almost  never  lacks  some  color 
in  its  green  parts,  greatly  increases  its  beauty  by  tinting  stems, 
leaves,  and  seed  vessels  with  red.  Like  other  members  of  the 
family,  the  flower  arranges  its  stamens  in  little  bundles  of  three, 
and  when  an  insect  comes  to  feast  on  the  abundant  pollen — no 
nectar  being  secreted — he  cannot  avoid  rubbing  some  off  on  the 
stigmas  that  are  on  a  level  with  the  anthers.  He  may  sometimes 
carry  pollen  from  blossom  to  blossom,  it  is  true,  but  certainly 
the  St.-John's-wort  takes  no  adequate  precautions  against  self- 
fertilization  at  any  time.  Toward  the  close  of  its  existence  the 
flower  draws  its  petals  together  toward  the  axils,  thus  bringing 
anthers  and  stigmas  in  contact. 


Spiked  Willow-herb;    Long   Purples;   Spiked 
or  Purple  Loosestrife 

(Lythrum  Salicaria)  Loosestrife  family 

Flowers — Bright  magenta  (royal  purple)  or  pinkish  purple,  about 
y-z  in.  broad,  crowded  in  whorls  around  long  bracted  spikes. 
Calyx  tubular,  ribbed,  5  to  7  toothed,  with  small  projections 
between.  Corolla  of  5  or  6  slightly  wrinkled  or  twisted 
petals.  Stamens,  in  2  whorls  of  5  or  6  each,  and  i  pistil, 
occurring  in  three  different  lengths.  Stem :  2  to  3  ft.  high, 


Magenta  to  Pink 

leafy,  branched.     Leaves  :  Opposite,  or  sometimes  in  whorls 

of  3  ;  lance-shaped,  with  heart-shaped  base  clasping  stem. 
Preferred  Habitat—  Wet   meadows,   watery    places,    ditches,    and 

banks  of  streams. 
Flowering  Season — June — August. 
Distribution — Eastern  Canada  to  Delaware,  and  westward  through 

Middle  States  ;  also  in  Europe. 

Through  Darwin's  patient  study  of  this  trimorphic  flower,  it 
has  assumed  so  important  a  place  in  his  theory  of  the  origin  of 
species  that  its  fertilization  by  insects  deserves  special  attention. 
On  page  5,  the  method  by  which  the  pickerel  weed,  another 
flower  whose  stamens  and  pistil  occur  in  three  different  lengths, 
should  be  read  to  avoid  much  repetition.  Now  the  loosestrife 
produces  six  different  kinds  of  yellow  and  green  pollen  on  its 
two  sets  of  three  stamens  ;  and  when  this  pollen  is  applied  by 
insects  to  the  stigmatic  surface  of  three  different  lengths  of  pistil, 
it  follows  that  there  are  eighteen  ways  in  which  it  may  be  trans- 
ferred. But  Darwin  proved  that  only  pollen  brought  from  the 
shortest  stamens  to  the  shortest  pistil,  from  the  middle-length 
stamens  to  the  middle-length  pistil,  and  from  the  long  stamens 
to  the  long  pistil  effectually  fertilizes  the  flower.  And  as  all  the 
flowers  on  any  one  plant  are  of  the  same  kind,  we  have  here  a 
marvellous  mechanism  to  secure  cross-fertilization.  His  experi- 
ments with  this  loosestrife  also  demonstrated  that  "reproductive 
organs,  when  of  different  length,  behave  to  one  another  like  dif- 
ferent species  of  the  same  genus  in  regard  both  to  direct  produc- 
tiveness and  the  character  of  the  offspring  ;  and  that  consequently 
mutual  barrenness,  which  was  once  thought  conclusive  proof  of 
difference  of  species,  is  worthless  as  such,  and  the  last  barrier 
that  was  raised  between  species  and  varieties  is  broken  down." 
(Muller.) 

Naturally  the  bright-hued,  hospitable  flower,  which  secretes 
abundant  nectar  at  the  base  of  its  tube,  attracts  many  insects, 
among  others,  bees  of  larger  and  middle  size,  and  the  butterflies 
for  which  it  is  especially  adapted.  They  alight  on  the  stamens 
and  pistil  on  the  upper  side  of  the  flower.  Those  with  the  long- 
est tongues  stand  on  one  blossom  to  sip  from  the  next  one  :  this 
is  the  butterfly's  customary  attitude.  But  nearly  every  visitor 
comes  in  contact  with  at  least  one  set  of  organs.  When  Darwin 
first  interpreted  the  trimorphism  of  the  loosestrife,  we  can  realize 
something  of  the  enthusiasm  such  a  man  must  have  felt  in  writing 
to  Gray:  "  I  am  almost  stark,  staring  mad  over  ly thrum.  .  .  . 
For  the  love  of  Heaven  have  a  look  at  some  of  your  species,  and 
if  you  can  get  me  some  seed,  do  !" 

Long  ago  this  beautiful  plant  reached  our  shores  from  Europe, 
and  year  by  year  is  extending  its  triumphal  march  westward, 
brightening  its  course  of  empire  through  low  meadows  and 

116 


Magenta  to  Pink 

marshes  with  torches  that  lengthen  even  as  they  glow.  It  is  not 
a  spring  flower,  even  in  England  ;  and  so  when  Shakespeare, 
whose  knowledge  of  floral  nature  was  second  only  to  that  of 
human  nature,  wrote  of  Ophelia, 

"  With  fantastic  garlands  did  she  come, 
Of  crow-flowers,  nettles,  daisies,  and  long  purples," 

is  it  probable  he  so  combined  flowers  having  different  seasons  of 
bloom  ?  Dr.  Prior  suggests  that  the  purple  orchis  (O.  mascula) 
might  have  been  the  flower  Ophelia  wore  ;  but,  as  long  purples 
has  been  the  folk  name  of  this  loosestrife  from  time  immemorial 
in  England,  it  seems  likely  that  Shakespeare  for  once  may  have 
made  a  mistake. 


Blue  Wax-weed;  Clammy  Cuphea;  Tar-weed 

(Parsonia  petiolata)  Loosestrife  family 
(Cuphea  -viscosissima  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Purplish  pink,  about  #  in.  across,  on  short  peduncles  from 
leaf  axils,  solitary  or  clustered.  Calyx  sticky,  tubular,  12- 
ribbed,  with  6  primary  teeth,  oblique  at  mouth,  extending  into 
a  rounded  swelling  on  upper  side  at  base  ;  6  unequal,  wrinkled 
petals,  on  short  claws;  1 1  or  12  stamens  inserted  on  calyx 
throat  ;  i  pistil  with  2-lobed  stigma.  Stem:  6  to  20  in.  high, 
branched,  very  sticky-hairy.  Leaves :  Opposite,  on  slender 
petioles,  lance-shaped,  rounded  at  base,  harsh  to  the  touch. 

Preferred  Habitat— Dty  soil,  waste  places,  fields,  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — July — October. 

Distribution — Rhode  Island  to  Georgia,  westward  to  Louisiana, 
Kansas,  and  Illinois. 

A  first  cousin  of  the  familiar  Mexican  cigar  plant,  or  fire-cracker 
plant  (Cuphea  platycentra],  whose  abundant  little  vermilion  tubes, 
with  black-edged  lower  lip  tipped  with  white,  brighten  the  bor- 
ders of  so  many  Northern  flower-beds.  Kyphos,  the  Greek  for 
curved,  from  which  cuphea  was  derived,  has  reference  to  the  pe- 
culiar, swollen  little  seed  pod.  From  a  slit  on  one  side  of  the 
clammy  cuphea's  capsule  the  placenta,  set  with  tiny  flattened  seeds, 
sticks  out  like  a  handle.  Probably  the  flower  has  already  fertil- 
ized itself  in  the  bud,  although,  from  the  fact  that  the  plant  has  taken 
such  pains  to  punish  crawling  insect  foes  by  coating  itself  with 
sticky  hairs,  one  might  imagine  it  was  wholly  dependent  upon 
winged  insects  to  transfer  its  pollen.  What  an  unworthy  relative 
of  the  purple  loosestrife,  whose  elaborate  scheme  to  insure  cross- 
fertilization  is  one  of  the  botanical  wonders  ! 

"7 


Magenta  to  Pink 

Meadow-beauty;   Deer  Grass 

(Rhexia  Virginicd)  Meadow-beauty  family 

Flowers — Purplish  pink,  i  to  \Yz  in.  across,  pedicelled,  clustered  at 
top  of  stem.  Calyx  4-lobed,  tubular  or  urn-shaped,  narrowest 
at  neck  ;  4  rounded,  spreading  petals,  joined  for  half  their 
length  ;  8  equal,  prominent  stamens  in  2  rows  ;  i  pistil. 
Stem:  i  to  \l/2  ft.  high,  square,  more  or  less  hairy,  erect, 
sometimes  branching  at  top.  Leaves :  Opposite,  ascending, 
seated  on  stem,  oval,  acute  at  tip,  mostly  5-nerved,  the  mar- 
gins saw-edged. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Sandy  swamps  or  near  water. 

Flowering  Season—}  uly — September. 

Distribution — United  States,  chiefly  east  of  Mississippi. 

Suggesting  a  brilliant  magenta  evening  primrose  in  form, 
the  meadow-beauty  is  likewise  a  rather  niggardly  bloomer,  only 
a  few  flowers  in  each  cluster  opening  at  once  ;  but  where  masses 
adorn  our  marshes,  we  cannot  wonder  so  effective  a  plant  is  ex- 
ported to  European  peat  gardens.  Its  lovely  sister,  the  Maryland 
Meadow-beauty  (R.  Mariana),  a  smaller,  less  brilliant  flower, 
found  no  farther  north  than  the  swamps  and  pine  barrens  of  New 
Jersey,  also  goes  abroad  to  be  admired  ;  yet  neither  is  of  any  value 
for  cutting,  for  the  delicate  petals  quickly  discolor  and  drop  off 
when  handled.  Blossoms  so  attractively  colored  naturally  have 
many  winged  visitors  to  transfer  their  pollen.  All  too  soon  after 
fertilization  the  now  useless  petals  fall,  leaving  the  pretty  urn- 
shaped  calyx,  with  the  large  yellow  protruding  stamens,  far  more 
conspicuous  than  some  flowers.  "Its  seed-vessels  are  perfect 
little  cream  pitchers  of  graceful  form, "  said  Thoreau.  Within  the 
smooth  capsule  the  minute  seeds  are  coiled  like  snail-shells. 


Great  or  Spiked  Willow-herb;   Fire-weed 

(Chamaenerion  angustifolium)  Evening  Primrose  family 
(Epilobium  angustifolhim  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Magenta  or  pink,  sometimes  pale,  or  rarely  white,  more 
or  less  than  i  in.  across,  in  an  elongated,  terminal,  spike-like 
raceme.  Calyx  tubular,  narrow,  in  4  segments  ;  4  rounded, 
spreading  petals  ;  8  stamens  ;  i  pistil,  hairy  at  base  ;  the 
stigma  4-lobed.  Stem  :  2  to  8  ft.  high,  simple,  smooth,  leafy. 
Leaves:  Narrow,  tapering,  willow-like,  2  to  6  in.  long. 
Fruit:  A  slender,  curved,  violet-tinted  capsule,  from  2  to  3  in. 
long,  containing  numerous  seeds  attached  to  tufts  of  fluffy, 
white,  silky  threads. 

118 


MEADOW-BEAUTY,    OR    DEER-GRASS 
(Rhexia  Virginica) 


PRINCE'S   PINE,    OR    PIPSISSEWA 
(Chimaphila  umbellata) 


Magenta  to  Pink 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry  soil,  fields,  roadsides,  especially  in  burnt- 
over  districts. 

Flowering  Season — June — September. 

Distribution — From  Atlantic  to  Pacific,  with  few  interruptions  ; 
British  Possessions  and  United  States  southward  to  the  Caro- 
linas  and  Arizona.  Also  Europe  and  Asia. 

Spikes  of  these  beautiful  brilliant  flowers  towering  upward 
above  dry  soil,  particularly  where  the  woodsman's  axe  and  forest 
fires  have  devastated  the  landscape,  illustrate  Nature's  abhorrence 
of  ugliness.  Other  kindly  plants  have  earned  the  name  of  fire- 
weed,  but  none  so  quickly  beautifies  the  blackened  clearings  of 
the  pioneer,  nor  blossoms  over  the  charred  trail  in  the  wake  of  the 
locomotive.  Beginning  at  the  bottom  of  the  long  spike,  the 
flowers  open  in  slow  succession  upward  throughout  the  summer, 
leaving  behind  the  attractive  seed-vessels,  which,  splitting  length- 
wise in  September,  send  adrift  white  silky  tufts  attached  to  seeds 
that  will  one  day  cover  far  distant  wastes  with  beauty.  Almost 
perfect  rosettes,  made  by  the  young  plants,  are  met  with  on  one's 
winter  walks. 

Epi,  upon,  and  lobos,  a  pod,  combine  to  make  a  name  ap- 
plicable to  many  flowers  of  this  family.  In  general  structure  the 
fire-weed  closely  resembles  its  relative  the  evening  primrose. 
Bees,  not  moths,  however,  are  its  benefactors.  Coming  to  a 
newly  opened  flower,  the  bee  finds  abundant  pollen  on  the  an- 
thers and  a  sip  of  nectar  in  the  cup  below.  At  this  stage  the 
flower  keeps  its  still  immature  style  curved  downward  and  back- 
ward lest  it  should  become  self-fertilized — an  evil  ever  to  be 
guarded  against  by  ambitious  plants.  In  a  few  days,  or  after  the 
pollen  has  been  removed,  up  stretches  the  style,  spreading  its 
four  receptive  stigmas  just  where  an  in-coming  bee,  well  dusted 
from  a  younger  flower,  must  certainly  leave  some  pollen  on  their 
sticky  surfaces.  (Illustration,  p.  132.) 

The  Great  Hairy  Willow-herb  (Epilobium  hirsutum),  whose 
white  tufted  seeds  came  over  from  Europe  in  the  ballast  to  be 
blown  over  Ontario  and  the  Eastern  States,  spreads  also  by 
underground  shoots,  until  it  seems  destined  to  occupy  wide 
areas.  In  these  showy  magenta  flowers,  about  one  inch  across, 
the  stigmas  and  anthers  mature  simultaneously  ;  but  cross-fertili- 
zation is  usually  insured  because  the  former  surpass  the  latter, 
and  naturally  are  first  touched  by  the  insect  visitor.  In  default 
of  visits,  however,  the  stigmas,  at  length  curling  backward,  come 
in  contact  with  the  pollen-laden  anthers.  The  fire-weed,  on  the 
contrary,  is  unable  to  fertilize  itself. 

A  pale  magenta-pink  or  whitish,  very  small-flowered,  branch- 
ing species,  one  to  two  feet  high,  found  in  swamps  from  New 

119 


Magenta  to  Pink 

Brunswick  to  the  Pacific,  and  southward  to  Delaware,  is  the 
Linear-leaved  Willow-herb  (E.  lineare),  whose  distinguishing 
features  are  its  very  narrow,  acute  leaves,  its  hoariness  through- 
out, the  dingy  threads  on  its  tiny  seeds,  and  the  occasional  bulb- 
lets  it  bears  near  the  base  of  the  stem.  It  is  scarcely  to  be 
distinguished  by  one  not  well  up  in  field  practice  from  another 
bog  lover,  the  Downy  or  Soft  Willow-herb  (E.  strictum),  which, 
however,  is  a  trifle  taller,  glandular  throughout,  and  with  sessile, 
not  petioled,  leaves.  The  Purple-leaved  Willow-herb  (E.  colo- 
ratum),  common  in  low  grounds,  may  best  be  named  by  the 
reddish-brown  coma  to  which  its  seeds  are  attached.  Both  leaves 
and  stem  are  often  highly  colored. 

Bog  Wintergreen 

(Pyrola  uliginosa)  Wintergreen  family 
(P.  rotundifolia,  var.  uliginosa  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Magenta  pink,  fragrant,  about  %  in.  across,  7  to  1 5  on 
a  leafless  scape  6  to  1 5  in.  high.  Calyx  ^-parted  ;  5  concave 
petals;  10  stamens;  style  curved  upward,  exserted.  Leaves: 
From  the  root,  broadly  oval  or  round,  rather  thick  and  dull, 
on  petioles. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Swamps  and  bogs. 

flowering  Season — June. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  British  Columbia,  southward  to  New 
York  and  Colorado. 

Fragrant  colonies  of  this  little  plant  cuddled  close  to  the  moss 
of  cool,  northern  peat  bogs  draw  forth  our  admiration  when  we 
go  orchid  hunting  in  early  summer.  A  similar  species,  the  Liver- 
leaf  Wintergreen  (P.  asarifolia],  with  shining,  not  dull,  leaves  and 
rose-colored  flowers,  not  to  mention  minor  differences,  is  like- 
wise found  in  swamps  and  wet  woods.  These  two  winter- 
greens,  formerly  counted  mere  varieties  of  the  white-flowered 
rotundifolia,  a  lover  of  dry  woods,  have  now  been  given  specific 
individuality  by  later-day  systematists.  Short-lipped  bees  and 
flies  may  be  detected  in  the  act  of  applying  their  mouths  to  the 
orifices  of  the  anthers  through  which  pollen  is  shed,  and  some 
must  be  carried  to  the  stigma  of  another  flower. 

Pipsissewa;  Prince's  Pine 

(Chimaphila  umbellata)  Wintergreen  family 

Flowers — Flesh-colored,  or  pinkish,  fragrant,  waxy,  usually  with 
deep  pink  ring  around  centre,  and  the  anthers  colored  ;  about 
Y*  in.  across  ;  several  flowers  in  loose,  terminal  cluster. 

120 


Magenta  to  Pink 

Calyx  5-cleft  ;  corolla  of  5  concave,  rounded,  spreading  petals  ; 
10  stamens,  the  filaments  hairy  ;  style  short,  conical,  with  a 
round  stigma.  Stem :  Trailing  far  along  ground,  creeping,  or 
partly  subterranean,  sending  up  sterile  and  flowering  branches 
3  to  10  in.  high.  Leaves:  Opposite  or  in  whorls,  evergreen, 
bright,  shining,  spatulate  to  lance-shaped,  sharply  saw-edged. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Dry  woods,  sandy  leaf-mould. 

Flowering  Season — June — August. 

Distribution — British  Possessions  and  the  United  States  north  of 
Georgia  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  Also  Mexico,  Eu- 
rope, and  Asia. 

A  lover  of  winter  indeed  (cheima  =  winter  and  phileo  =  to 
love)  is  the  prince's  pine,  whose  beautiful  dark  leaves  keep  their 
color  and  gloss  in  spite  of  snow  and  intense  cold.  A  few  yards  of 
the  trailing  stem,  easily  ripped  from  the  light  soil  of  its  woodland 
home,  make  a  charming  indoor  decoration,  especially  when  the 
little  brown  seed-cases  remain.  Few  flowers  are  more  suggestive 
of  the  woods  than  these  shy,  dainty,  deliciously  fragrant  little 
blossoms. 

The  Spotted  Wintergreen,  or  Pipsissewa  (C.  maculata), 
closely  resembles  the  prince's  pine,  except  that  its  slightly  larger 
white  or  pinkish  flowers  lack  the  deep  pink  ring  ;  and  the  lance- 
shaped  leaves,  with  rather  distant  saw-teeth,  are  beautifully  mot- 
tled with  white  along  the  veins.  When  we  see  short-lipped  bees 
and  flies  about  these  flowers,  we  may  be  sure  their  pollen-covered 
mouths  come  in  contact  with  the  moist  stigma  on  the  summit  of 
the  little  top-shaped  style,  and  so  effect  cross-fertilization. 


Wild  Honeysuckle;    Pink,  Purple,  or  Wild 
Azalea;   Pinxter-flower 

(Azalea  nudiflora)  Heath  family 

Flowers — Crimson  pink,  purplish  or  rose  pink,  to  nearly  white, 
1 1/2  to  2  in.  across,  faintly  fragrant,  clustered,  opening  before 
or  with  the  leaves,  and  developed  from  cone-like,  scaly  brown 
buds.  Calyx  minute,  5-parted  ;  corolla  funnel-shaped,  the 
tube  narrow,  hairy,  with  5  regular,  spreading  lobes  ;  5  long 
red  stamens;  i  pistil,  declined,  protruding.  Stem:  Shrubby, 
usually  simple  below,  but  branching  above,  2  to  6  ft.  high. 
Leaves:  Usually  clustered,  deciduous,  oblong,  acute  at  both 
ends,  hairy  on  midrib. 

Preferred  ffafa'tat—Mo'ist,  rocky  woods,  or  dry  woods  and  thickets. 

Flowering  Season — April — May. 

Distribution — Maine  to  Illinois,  and  southward  to  the  Gulf. 


Magenta  to  Pink 

Woods  and  hillsides  are  glowing  with  fragrant,  rosy  masses 
of  this  lovely  azalea,  the  Pinxter-bloem  or  Whitsunday  flower  of 
the  Dutch  colonists,  long  before  the  seventh  Sunday  after  Easter. 
Among  our  earliest  exports,  this  hardy  shrub,  the  swamp  azalea, 
and  the  superb  flame-colored  species  of  the  Alleghanies,  were 
sent  early  in  the  eighteenth  century  to  the  old  country,  and  there 
crossed  with  A.  Pontica  of  southern  Europe  by  the  Belgian  horti- 
culturalists,  to  whom  we  owe  the  Ghent  azaleas,  the  final  triumphs 
of  the  hybridizer,  that  glorify  the  shrubberies  on  our  own  lawns 
to-day.  The  azalea  became  the  national  flower  of  Flanders. 
These  hardy  species  lose  their  leaves  in  winter,  whereas  the  hot- 
house varieties  of//.  Indica,  a  native  of  China  and  Japan,  have 
thickish  leaves,  almost  if  not  quite  evergreen.  A  few  of  the  latter 
stand  our  northern  winters,  especially  the  pure  white  variety  now 
quite  commonly  planted  in  cemetery  lots.  In  that  delightfully 
enthusiastic  little  book,  "The  Garden's  Story,"  Mr.  Ellwanger 
says  of  the  Ghent  azalea  :  "  In  it  I  find  a  charm  presented  by  no 
other  flower.  Its  soft  tints  of  buff,  sulphur,  and  primrose  ;  its 
dazzling  shades  of  apricot,  salmon,  orange,  and  vermilion  are 
always  a  fresh  revelation  of  color.  They  have  no  parallel  among 
flowers,  and  exist  only  in  opals,  sunset  skies,  and  the  flush  of 
autumn  woods."  Certainly  American  horticulturalists  were  not 
clever  in  allowing  the  industry  of  raising  these  plants  from  our 
native  stock  to  thrive  on  foreign  soil. 

Naturally  the  azalea's  protruding  style  forms  the  most  con- 
venient alighting  place  for  the  female  bee,  its  chief  friend  ;  and 
there  she  leaves  a  few  grains  of  pollen,  brought  on  her  hairy  un- 
derside from  another  flower,  before  again  dusting  herself  there  as 
she  crawls  over  the  pretty  colored  anthers  on  her  way  to  the 
nectary.  Honey  produced  from  azaleas  by  the  hive  bee  is  in 
bad  repute.  All  too  soon  after  fertilization  the  now  useless  co- 
rolla slides  along  to  the  tip  of  the  pistil,  where  it  swings  a  while 
before  dropping  to  earth. 

Our  beautiful  wild  honeysuckle,  called  naked  (nudiflora), 
because  very  often  the  flowers  appear  before  the  leaves,  has  a 
peculiar  Japanese  grace  on  that  account.  Every  farmer's  boy's 
mouth  waters  at  sight  of  the  cool,  juicy  May-apple,  the  extraor- 
dinary pulpy  growth  on  this  plant  and  the  swamp  pink.  This 
excrescence  seems  to  have  no  other  use  than  that  of  a  gratuitous, 
harmless  gift  to  the  thirsty  child,  from  whom  it  exacts  no  reward 
of  carrying  seeds  to  plant  distant  colonies,  as  the  mandrake's  yel- 
low, tomato-like  May-apple  does.  But  let  him  beware,  as  he  is 
likely  to,  of  the  similar  looking,  but  hollow,  stringy  apples  grow- 
ing on  the  bushy  Andromeda,  which  turn  black  with  age. 

From  Maine  to  Florida  and  westward  to  Texas,  chiefly  near 
the  coast,  in  low,  wet  places  only  need  we  look  for  the  Swamp 
Pmk  or  Honeysuckle,  White  or  Clammy  Azalea  (A.  viscosa), 


Magenta  to  Pink 

a  more  hairy  species  than  the  Pinxter-flower,  with  a  very  sticky, 
glandular  corolla  tube,  and  deliciously  fragrant  blossoms,  by  no 
means  invariably  white.  John  Burroughs  is  not  the  only  one  who 
has  passed  ''several  patches  of  swamp  honeysuckles,  red  with 
blossoms"  ("Wake-Robin").  But  as  this  species  does  not 
bloom  until  June  and  July,  when  the  sun  quickly  bleaches  the 
delicate  flowers,  it  is  true  we  most  frequently  find  them  white, 
merely  tinged  with  pink.  The  leaves  are  well  developed  before 
the  blossoms  appear.  Concerning  azaleas'  poisonous  property, 
see  page  126. 

Rhodora 

(Rhodora  Canadensis)  Heath  family 
(Rhododendron  Rhodora  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Purplish  pink,  rose,  or  nearly  white,  i}4  in.  broad  or  less, 
in  clusters  on  short,  stiff,  hairy  pedicels,  and  usually  appear- 
ing before  the  leaves,  from  scaly,  terminal  buds.  Calyx 
minute  ;  corolla  2-lipped,  upper  lip  unequally  2-3  lobed ;  lower 
lip  2-cleft  ;  i o  stamens  ;  i  pistil,  the  style  slightly  protruding. 
Stem  :  i  to  3  ft.  high,  shrubby,  branching.  Leaves :  Deciduous, 
oval  to  oblong,  dark  green  above,  pale  and  hairy  beneath. 

Preferred  Habitat— Wet  hillsides,  damp  woods,  beside  sluggish 
streams,  cool  bogs. 

Flowering  Season — May. 

Distribution — Newfoundland  to  Pennsylvania  mountains. 

A  superficial  glance  at  this  low,  little,  thin  shrub  might  mis- 
take it  for  a  magenta  variety  of  the  leafless  Pinxter-flower.  It 
does  its  best  to  console  the  New  Englanders  for  the  scarcity  of 
the  magnificent  rhododendron,  with  which  it  was  formerly 
classed.  The  Sage  of  Concord,  who  became  so  enamored  of 
it  that  Massachusetts  people  often  speak  of  it  as  "Emerson's 
flower,"  extols  its  loveliness  in  a  sonnet: 

"  Rhodora  !  If  the  sages  ask  thee  why 
This  charm  is  wasted  on  the  earth  and  sky, 
Tell  them,  dear,  if  eyes  were  made  for  seeing, 
Then  Beauty  is  its  own  excuse  for  being." 

American  or  Great   Rhododendron  ;   Great 
Laurel ;   Rose  Tree,  or  Bay 

(Rhododendron  maximum}  Heath  family 

Flowers — Rose  pink,  varying  to  white,  greenish  in  the  throat, 
spotted  with  yellow  or  orange,  in  broad  clusters  set  like  a 
bouquet  among  leaves,  and  developed  from  scaly,  cone-like 
123 


Magenta  to  Pink 

buds  ;  pedicels  sticky-hairy.  Calyx  ^-parted,  minute ; 
corolla  5-lobed,  broadly  bell-shaped,  2  in.  broad  or  less  ; 
usually  10  stamens,  equally  spreading;  i  pistil.  Stem: 
Sometimes  a  tree  attaining  a  height  of  40  ft.,  usually  6  to  20 
ft.,  shrubby,  woody.  Leaves:  Evergreen,  drooping  in  win- 
ter, leathery,  dark  green  on  both  sides,  lance-oblong,  4  to  10 
in.  long,  entire  edged,  narrowing  into  stout  petioles. 

Preferred  V/a&Va/— Mountainous  woodland,  hillsides  near  streams. 

Flowering  Season — June — July. 

Distribution — Uncommon  from  Ohio  and  New  England  to  Nova 
Scotia  ;  abundant  through  the  Alleghanies  to  Georgia. 

When  this  most  magnificent  of  our  native  shrubs  covers 
whole  mountain  sides  throughout  the  Alleghany  region  with 
bloom,  one  stands  awed  in  the  presence  of  such  overwhelming 
beauty.  Nowhere  else  does  the  rhododendron  attain  such  size 
or  luxuriance.  There  it  produces  a  tall  trunk,  and  towers  among 
the  trees;  it  spreads  its  branches  far  and  wide  until  they  interlock 
and  form  almost  impenetrable  thickets  locally  called  "hells;"  it 
glorifies  the  loneliest  mountain  road  with  superb  bouquets  of  its 
delicate  flowers  set  among  dark,  glossy  foliage  scarcely  less  attrac- 
tive. The  mountain  in  bloom  is  worth  travelling  a  thousand 
miles  to  see. 

Farther  south  the  more  purplish-pink  or  lilac-flowered  Caro- 
lina Rhododendron  (/?.  Catawbiense]  flourishes.  This  southern 
shrub,  which  is  perfectly  hardy,  unlike  its  northern  sister,  has 
been  used  by  cultivators  as  a  basis  for  producing  the  fine  hybrids 
now  so  extensively  grown  on  lawns  in  this  country  and  Europe. 
Crossed  with  the  Nepal  species  (R,  arboreum)  the  best  results 
follow.  Americans,  ever  too  prone  to  make  the  eagle  scream 
on  their  trips  abroad,  need  not  monopolize  all  the  glory  for  the 
cultivated  rhododendron,  as  they  are  apt  to  do  when  they  see  it 
on  fine  estates  in  England.  The  Himalayas,  which  are  covered 
with  rhododendrons  of  brighter  hue  than  ours,  furnish  many  of 
the  shrubs  of  commerce.  Our  rhododendron  produces  one  of  the 
hardest  and  strongest  of  woods,  weighing  thirty-nine  pounds  per 
cubic  foot. 

Rhododendrons,  azaleas,  and  laurels  fall  under  a  common 
ban  pronounced  by  bee-keepers  (see  p.  126).  The  bees  which 
transfer  pollen  from  blossom  to  blossom  while  gathering  nectar, 
manufacture  honey  said  to  be  poisonous.  Cattle  know  enough 
to  let  all  this  foliage  alone.  Apparently  the  ants  fear  no  more 
evil  results  from  the  nectar  than  the  bees  themselves  ;  and  were  it 
not  for  the  sticky  parts  nearest  the  flowers,  on  which  they  crawl 
to  meet  their  death,  the  blossom's  true  benefactors  would  find 
little  refreshment  left. 


124 


Magenta  to  Pink 

Mountain  or  American  Laurel;  Calico  Bush; 
Spoonwood ;  Calmoun ;  Broad-leaved 
Kalmia 

(Kalmia  latifolia)  Heath  family 

Flowers — Buds  and  new  flowers  bright  rose  pink,  afterward  fad- 
ing white,  and  only  lined  with  pink,  i  in.  across,  or  less, 
numerous,  in  terminal  clusters.  Calyx  small,  5-parted,  sticky  ; 
corolla  like  a  5-pointed  saucer,  with'  10  projections  on  outside  ; 
10  arching  stamens,  an  anther  lodged  in  each  projection  ;  i 
pistil.  Stem:  Shrubby,  woody,  stiffly  branched,  2  to  20 
ft.  high.  Leaves  :  Evergreen,  entire,  oval  to  elliptic,  pointed 
at  both  ends,  tapering  into  petioles.  Fruit:  A  round,  brown 
capsule,  with  the  style  long  remaining  on  it. 

Preferred  Habitat — Sandy  or  rocky  woods,  especially  in  hilly  or 
mountainous  country. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution — New  Brunswick  and  Ontario,  southward  to  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  and  westward  to  Ohio. 

It  would  be  well  if  Americans,  imitating  the  Japanese  in  mak- 
ing pilgrimages  to  scenes  of  supreme  natural  beauty,  visited  the 
mountains,  rocky,  woody  hillsides,  ravines,  and  tree-girt  up- 
lands when  the  laurel  is  in  its  glory  ;  when  masses  of  its  pink  and 
white  blossoms,  set  among  the  dark  evergreen  leaves,  flush  the 
landscape  like  Aurora,  and  are  reflected  from  the  pools  of  streams 
and  the  serene  depths  of  mountain  lakes.  Peter  Kalm,  a  Swedish 
pupil  of  Linnaeus,  who  travelled  here  early  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, was  more  impressed  by  its  beauty  than  that  of  any  other 
flower.  He  introduced  the  plant  to  Europe,  where  it  is  known 
as  kalmia,  and  extensively  cultivated  on  fine  estates  that  are 
thrown  open  to  the  public  during  the  flowering  season.  Even  a 
flower  is  not  without  honor,  save  in  its  own  country.  We  have 
only  to  prepare  a  border  of  leaf-mould,  take  up  the  young  plant 
without  injuring  the  roots  or  allowing  them  to  dry,  hurry  them 
into  the  ground,  and  prune  back  the  bush  a  little,  to  establish  it  in 
our  gardens,  where  it  will  bloom  freely  after  the  second  year. 

All  the  kalmias  resort  to  a  most  ingenious  device  for  com- 
pelling insect  visitors  to  carry  their  pollen  from  blossom  to  blos- 
som. A  newly  opened  flower  has  its  stigma  erected  where  the 
incoming  bee  must  leave  on  its  sticky  surface  the  four  minute 
orange-like  grains  carried  from  the  anther  of  another  flower  on 
the  hairy  underside  of  her  body.  Now,  each  anther  is  tucked 
away  in  one  of  the  ten  little  pockets  of  the  saucer-shaped  blossom, 
and  the  elastic  filaments  are  strained  upward  like  a  bow.  After 
hovering  above  the  nectary,  the  bee  has  only  to  descend  toward 

125 


Magenta  to  Pink 

it,  when  her  leg,  touching  against  one  of  the  hair-triggers  of  the 
spring  trap,  pop  !  goes  the  little  anther-gun,  discharging  pollen 
from  its  bores  as  it  flies  upward.  So  delicately  is  the  mechanism 
adjusted,  the  slightest  jar  or  rough  handling  releases  the  anthers  ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  should  insects  be  excluded  by  a  net 
stretched  over  the  plant,  the  flowers  will  fall  off  and  wither  with- 
out firing  off  their  pollen-charged  guns.  At  least,  this  is  true  in 
the  great  majority  of  tests.  As  in  the  case  of  hothouse  flowers, 
no  fertile  seed  is  set  when  nets  keep  away  the  laurel's  benefac- 
tors. One  has  only  to  touch  the  hair-trigger  with  the  end  of  a 
pin  to  see  how  exquisitely  delicate  is  this  provision  for  cross-fer- 
tilization. 

However  much  we  may  be  cautioned  by  the  apiculturalists 
against  honey  made  from  laurel  nectar,  the  bees  themselves  ignore 
all  warnings' and  apparently  without  evil  results — happily  for  the 
flowers  dependent  upon  them  and  their  kin.  Mr.  Frank  R. 
Cheshire,  in  "  Bees  and  Bee-keeping,"  the  standard  English  work 
on  the  subject,  writes  :  "  During  the  celebrated  Retreat  of  the  Ten 
Thousand,  as  recorded  byXenophon  in  his  'Anabasis, 'the  soldiers 
regaled  themselves  upon  some  honey  found  near  Trebizonde, 
where  were  many  bee-hives.  Intoxication  with  vomiting  was 
the  result.  Some  were  so  overcome,  he  states,  as  to  be  incapa- 
ble of  standing.  Not  a  soldier  died,  but  very  many  were  greatly 
weakened  for  several  days.  Tournefort  endeavored  to  ascertain 
whether  this  account  was  corroborated  by  anything  ascertainable 
in  the  locality,  and  had  good  reason  to  be  satisfied  respecting  it. 
He  concluded  that  the  honey  had  been  gathered  from  a  shrub 
growing  in  the  neighborhood  of  Trebizonde,  which  is  well  known 
there  as  producing  the  before-mentioned  effects.  It  is  now  agreed 
that  the  plants  were  species  of  rhododendron  and  azaleas.  Lam- 
berti  confirms  Xenophon's  account  by  stating  that  similar  effects 
are  produced  by  honey  of  Colchis,  where  the  same  shrubs  are 
common.  In  1790,  even,  fatal  cases  occurred  in  America  in  con- 
sequence of  eating  wild  honey,  which  was  traced  to  Kalmia 
latifolia  by  an  inquiry  instituted  under  direction  of  the  American 
government.  Happily,  our  American  cousins  are  now  never  likely 
to  thus  suffer,  thanks  to  drainage,  the  plow,  and  the  bee-farm." 

One  of  the  beautiful  swallow-tail  butterflies  lays  its  eggs  on 
laurel  leaves,  that  the  larvae  may  feed  on  them  later;  yet  the 
foliage  often  proves  deadly  to  more  highly  organized  creatures. 
Most  cattle  know  enough  to  let  it  alone;  nevertheless  some  fall 
victims  to  it  every  year.  Even  the  intelligent  grouse,  hard  pressed 
with  hunger  when  deep  snow  covers  much  of  their  chosen  food, 
are  sometimes  found  dead  and  their  crops  distended  by  these 
leaves.  How  far  more  unkind  than  the  bristly  armored  thistle's  is 
the  laurel's  method  of  protecting  itself  against  destruction !  Even 
the  ant,  intent  on  pilfering  sweets  secreted  for  bees,  it  ruthlessly 
glues  to  death  against  its  sticky  stems  and  calices.  According  to 

126 


Magenta  to  Pink 

Dr.  Barton  the  Indians  drink  a  decoction  of  kalmia  leaves  when 
they  wish  to  commit  suicide. 

As  laurel  wood  is  very  hard  and  solid,  weighing  forty-four 
pounds  to  the  cubic  foot,  it  is  in  great  demand  for  various  pur- 
poses, one  of  them  indicated  in  the  plant's  popular  name  of  Spoon- 
wood. 

Sheep-laurel,  Lamb-kill,  Wicky,  Calf-kill,  Sheep-poison,  Nar- 
row-leaved Laurel  (K.  angustifolid) ,  and  so  on  through  a  list  of 
folk  names  testifying  chiefly  to  the  plant's  wickedness  in  the 
pasture,  may  be  especially  deadly  food  for  cattle,  but  it  certainly 
is  a  feast  to  the  eyes.  However  much  we  may  admire  the  small, 
deep  crimson-pink  flowers  that  we  find  in  June  and  July  in  moist 
fields  or  swampy  ground  or  on  the  hillsides,  few  of  us  will  agree 
with  Thoreau,  who  claimed  that  it  is  "handsomer  than  the 
mountain  laurel."  The  low  shrub  may  be  only  six  inches  high, 
or  it  may  attain  three  feet.  The  narrow  evergreen  leaves,  pale  on 
the  under  side,  have  a  tendency  to  form  groups  of  threes,  stand- 
ing upright  when  newly  put  forth,  but  bent  downward  with  the 
weight  of  age.  A  petuliarity  of  the  plant  is  that  clusters  of  leaves 
usually  terminate  the  woody  stem,  for  the  flowers  grow  in  whorls 
or  in  clusters  at  the  side  of  it  below. 

The  Pale  or  Swamp  Laurel  (K.  glanca},  found  in  cool  bogs 
from  Newfoundland  to  New  Jersey  and  Michigan,  and  west- 
ward to  the  Pacific  Coast,  coats  the  under  side  of  its  mostly  up- 
right leaves  with  a  smooth  whitish  bloom  like  the  cabbage's.  It 
is  a  straggling  little  bush,  even  lower  than  the  lamb-kill,  and  an 
earlier  bloomer,  putting  forth  its  loose,  niggardly  clusters  of  deep 
rose  or  lilac-colored  flowers  in  June. 


Trailing  Arbutus;   Mayflower;   Ground  Laurel 

(Epigaea  repens)  Heath  family 

Flowers — Pink,  fading  to  nearly  white,  very  fragrant,  about  ^  in. 
across  when  expanded,  few  or  many  in  clusters  at  ends  of 
branches.  Calyx  of  5  dry  overlapping  sepals  ;  corolla  salver- 
shaped,  the  slender,  hairy  tube  spreading  into  5  equal  lobes  ; 
10  stamens  ;  i  pistil  with  a  column-like  style  and  a  5-lobed 
stigma.  Stem  :  Spreading  over  the  ground  (Epigaea  =  on 
the  earth)  ;  woody,  the  leafy  twigs  covered  with  rusty  hairs. 
Leaves :  Alternate,  oval,  rounded  at  the  base,  smooth  above, 
more  or  less  hairy  below,  evergreen,  weather-worn,  on  short, 
rusty,  hairy  petioles. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Light  sandy  loam  in  woods,  especially  under 
evergreen  trees,  or  in  mossy,  rocky  places. 
127 


Magenta  to  Pink 

Flowering  Season — Mnrch — May. 

Distribution — Newfoundland  to  Florida,  west  to  Kentucky,  and 
the  Northwest  Territory. 

Can  words  describe  the  fragrance  of  the  very  breath  of  spring 
— that  delicious  commingling  of  the  perfume  of  arbutus,  the  odor 
of  pines,  and  the  snow-soaked  soil  just  warming  into  life  ?  Those 
who  know  the  flower  only  as  it  is  sold  in  the  city  streets,  tied 
with  wet,  dirty  string  into  tight  bunches,  withered  and  forlorn, 
can  have  little  idea  of  the  joy  of  finding  the  pink,  pearly  blossoms 
freshly  opened  among  the  withered  leaves  of  oak  and  chestnut, 
moss,  and  pine  needles  in  which  they  nestle  close  to  the  cold 
earth  in  the  leafless,  windy  northern  forest.  Even  in  Florida, 
where  broad  patches  carpet  the  woods  in  February,  one  misses 
something  of  the  arbutus's  accustomed  charm  simply  because 
there  are  no  slushy  remnants  of  snow  drifts,  no  reminders  of 
winter  hardships  in  the  vicinity.  There  can  be  no  ghtd  surprise 
at  finding  dainty  spring  flowers  in  a  land  of  perpetual  summer. 
Little  wonder  that  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  after  the  first  awful  winter 
on  the  "stern  New  England  coast,"  loved  this  early  messenger  of 
hope  and  gladness  above  the  frozen  ground  at  Plymouth.  In  an 
introductory  note  to  his  poem  "  The  Mayflowers,"  Whittier  states 
that  the  name  was  familiar  in  England,  as  the  application  of  it  to 
the  historic  vessel  shows  ;  but  it  was  applied  by  the  English,  and 
still  is,  to  the  hawthorn.  Its  use  in  New  England  in  connection 
with  the  trailing  arbutus  dates  from  a  very  early  day,  some  claim- 
ing that  the  first  Pilgrims  so  used  it  in  affectionate  memory  of  the 
vessel  and  its  English  flower  association. 

"  Sad  Mayflower !  watched  by  winter  stars, 

And  nursed  by  winter  gales, 

With  petals  of  the  sleeted  spars, 

And  leaves  of  frozen  sails  ! 

"  But  warmer  suns  ere  long  shall  bring 

To  life  the  frozen  sod, 

And  through  dead  leaves  of  hope  shall  spring 
Afresh  the  flowers  of  God  !  " 

Some  have  attempted  to  show  that  the  Pilgrims  did  not  find 
the  flowers  until  the  last  month  of  spring,  and  that,  therefore, 
they  were  named  Mayflowers.  Certainly  the  arbutus  is  not  a 
typical  May  blossom  even  in  New  England.  Bryant  associates  it 
with  the  hepatica,  our  earliest  spring  flower,  in  his  poem, "The 
Twenty-seventh  of  March  "  : 

"Within  the  woods 

Tufts  of  ground  laurel,  creeping  underneath 
The  leaves  of  the  last  summer,  send  their  sweets 
Upon  the  chilly  air,  and  by  the  oak, 
The  squirrel  cups,  a  graceful  company 
Hide  in  their  bells  a  soft  aerial  blue." 

128 


Magenta  to  Pink 

There  is  little  use  trying  to  coax  this  shyest  of  sylvan  flowers 
into  our  gardens  where  other  members  of  its  family,  rhododen- 
drons, laurels,  and  azaleas  make  themselves  delightfully  at  home. 
It  is  wild  as  a  hawk,  an  untamable  creature  that  slowly  pines  to 
death  when  brought  into  contact  with  civilization.  Greedy  street 
venders,  who  ruthlessly  tear  up  the  plant  by  the  yard,  and  others 
without  even  the  excuse  of  eking  out  a  paltry  income  by  its  sale, 
have  already  exterminated  it  within  a  wide  radius  of  our  Eastern 
cities.  How  curious  that  the  majority  of  people  show  their  ap- 
preciation of  a  flower's  beauty  only  by  selfishly,  ignorantly  pick- 
ing every  specimen  they  can  find  ! 

In  many  localities  the  arbutus  sets  no  fruit,  for  it  is  still  un- 
dergoing evolutionary  changes  looking  toward  the  perfecting  of 
an  elaborate  system  to  insure  cross-fertilization.  Already  it  has 
attained  to  perfume,  nectar,  and  color  to  attract  quantities  of  in- 
sects, chiefly  flies  and  small  female  bees  ;  but  in  some  flowers  the 
anthers  produce  no  pollen  for  them  to  carry,  while  others  are 
filled  with  grains,  yet  all  the  stigmas  in  the  neighboring  clusters 
may  be  defective.  The  styles  and  the  filaments  are  of  several  dif- 
ferent lengths,  showing  a  tendency  toward  trimorphism,  perhaps, 
like  the  wonderful  purple  loosestrife  ;  but  at  present  the  flower 
pursues  a  most  wasteful  method  of  distributing  pollen,  and  in 
different  sections  of  the  country  acts  so  differently  that  its  phases 
are  impossible  to  describe  except  to  the  advanced  student.  They 
may,  however,  be  best  summarized  in  the  words  of  Professor  Asa 
Gray  :  "  The  flowers  are  of  two  kinds,  each  with  two  modifica- 
tions ;  the  two  main  kinds  characterized  by  the  nature  and  per- 
fection of  the  stigma,  along  with  more  or  less  abortion  of  the 
stamens  ;  their  modifications  by  the  length  of  the  style." 

When  our  English  cousins  speak  of  the  arbutus,  they  have  in 
mind  a  very  different  species  from  ours.  Theirs  is  the  late  flower- 
ing strawberry-tree,  an  evergreen  shrub  with  clustering  white 
blossoms  and  beautiful  rough,  red  berries.  Indeed,  the  name 
arbutus  is  derived  from  the  Celtic  word  Arboise,  meaning  rough 
fruit. 

Large  or  American  Cranberry 

(Oxycoccus  macrocarpus)  Huckleberry  family 
(V actinium  macrocarpon  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Light  pink,  about  %.  in.  across,  nodding  on  slender  pedi- 
cels from  sides  and  tips  of  erect  branches.  Calyx  round,  4- 
or  5-parted  ;  corolla  a  long  cone  in  bud,  its  four  or  five  nearly 
separate,  narrow  petals  turned  far  backward  later  ;  8  or  10 
stamens,  the  anthers  united  into  a  protruding  cone,  its  hollow 
tubes  shedding  pollen  by  a  pore  at  tip.  Stem  •'  Creeping  or 
trailing,  slender,  woody,  i  to  3  ft.  long,  its  leafy  branches  8 

9  129 


Magenta  to  Pink 

in.  high  or  less.  Leaves :  Small,  alternate,  oblong,  evergreen, 
pale  beneath,  the  edges  rolled  backward.  Fruit:  An  oblong 
or  ovoid,  many  seeded,  juicy  red  berry  (Oxycoccus  =  sour 
berry). 

Preferred  Habitat — Bogs  ;  sandy,  swampy  meadows. 

Flowering  Season — June — August. 

Distribution — North  Carolina,  Michigan,  and  Minnesota  north- 
ward and  westward. 

A  hundred  thousand  people  are  interested  in  the  berry  of 
this  pretty  vine  to  one  who  has  ever  seen  its  flowers.  Yet  if  the 
blossom  were  less  attractive,  to  insects  at  least,  and  took  less 
pains  to  shake  out  its  pollen  upon  them  as  they  cling  to  the  cone 
to  sip  its  nectar,  few  berries  would  accompany  the  festive  Thanks- 
giving turkey.  Cultivators  of  the  cranberry  know  how  impor- 
tant it  is  to  have  the  flooded  bogs  well  drained  before  the  flowering 
season.  Water  (or  ice)  may  cover  the  plants  to  the  depth  of  a 
foot  or  more  all  winter  and  until  the  loth  of  May  ;  and  during 
the  late  summer  it  is  often  advisable  to  overflow  the  bogs  to 
prevent  injury  of  the  fine,  delicate  roots  from  drought,  and  to 
destroy  the  worm  that  is  the  plant's  worst  enemy  ;  but  until  the 
flowers  have  wooed  the  bees,  flies,  and  other  winged  bene- 
factors, and  fruit  is  well  formed,  every  cultivator  knows  enough 
not  to  submerge  his  bog.  With  flowers  under  water  there  are 
no  insect  visitors,  consequently  no  berries.  Dense  mats  of  the 
wiry  vines  should  yield  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  bushels  of 
berries  to  the  acre,  under  skilful  cultivation — a  most  profitable 
industry,  since  the  cranberry  costs  less  to  cultivate,  gather,  and 
market  than  the  strawberry  or  any  of  the  small  perishable  fruits. 
Planted  in  muck  and  sand  in  the  garden,  the  vines  yield  surpris- 
ingly good  results.  The  Cape  Cod  Bell  is  the  best  known  market 
berry.  One  of  the  interesting  sights  to  the  city  loiterer  about  the 
New  England  coast  in  early  autumn  is  the  berry-picking  that  is 
conducted  on  an  immense  scale.  Men,  women,  and  children 
drop  all  other  work  ;  whole  villages  are  nearly  depopulated  while 
daylight  lasts  ;  temporary  buildings  set  up  on  the  edges  of  the 
bogs  contain  throngs  of  busy  people  sorting,  measuring,  and 
packing  fruit  ;  and  lonely  railroad  stations,  piled  high  with  crates, 
give  the  branch  line  its  heaviest  freight  business  of  the  year. 

Shooting   Star;  American   Cowslip;    Pride  of 
Ohio 

(Dodecatheon  Meadia)  Primrose  family 

Flowers — Purplish  pink  or  yellowish  white,  the  cone  tipped  with 
yellow  ;  few  or  numerous,  hanging  on  slender,  recurved  pedi- 
els  in  an  umbel  at  top  of  a  simple  scape  6  in.  to  2  ft.  high. 

130 


Magenta  to  Pink 

Calyx  deeply  5-parted  ;  corolla  of  5  narrow  lobes  bent  back- 
ward and  upward  ;  the  tube  very  short,  thickened  at  throat, 
and  marked  with  dark  reddish-purple  dots  ;  5  stamens 
united  into  a  protruding  cone  ;  i  pistil,  protruding  beyond 
them.  Leaves:  Oblong  or  spatulate,  3  to  12  in.  long,  nar- 
rowed into  petioles,  all  from  fibrous  roots.  Fruit:  A 
5-valved  capsule  on  erect  pedicels. 

Preferred  Habitat — Prairies,  open  woods,  moist  cliffs. 

Flowering  Season — April — May. 

Distribution — Pennsylvania  southward  and  westward,  and  from 
Texas  to  Manitoba. 

Ages  ago  Theophrastus  called  an  entirely  different  plant  by 
this  same  scientific  name,  derived  from  dodeka  =  twelve,  and  theos 
=gods  ;  and  although  our  plant  is  native  of  a  land  unknown  to  the 
ancients,  the  fanciful  Linnaeus  imagined  he  saw  in  the  flowers  of 
its  umbel  a  little  congress  of  their  divinities  seated  around  a  mini- 
ature Olympus  !  Who  has  said  science  kills  imagination  ?  These 
handsome,  interesting  flowers,  so  familiar  in  the  Middle  West 
and  Southwest,  especially,  somewhat  resemble  the  cyclamen  in 
oddity  of  form.  Indeed,  these  prairie  wildflowers  are  not  un- 
known in  florists'  shops  in  Eastern  cities. 

Many  flowers  like  the  shooting  star,  cyclamen,  and  night- 
shade, with  protruding  cones  made  up  of  united  stamens,  are  so 
designed  that,  as  the  bees  must  cling  to  them  while  sucking  nec- 
tar, they  receive  pollen  jarred  out  from  the  end  of  the  cone  on 
their  under  sides.  The  reflexed  petals  serve  three  purposes  : 
First,  in  making  the  flower  more  conspicuous  ;  secondly,  in  facili- 
tating access  to  nectar  and  pollen  ;  and,  finally,  in  discouraging 
crawling  intruders.  Where  the  short  tube  is  thickened,  the  bee 
finds  her  foothold  while  she  forces  her  tongue  between  the  anther 
tips.  The  nectar  is  well  concealed  and  quite  deeply  seated,  thanks 
to  the  rigid  cone.  Few  bee  workers  are  flying  at  the  shooting 
star's  early  blooming  season.  Undoubtedly  the  female  bumble- 
bees, which,  by  striking  the  protruding  stigma  before  they  jar 
out  any  pollen,  cross-fertilize  it,  are  the  flower's  benefactors  ;  but 
one  frequently  sees  the  little  yellow  puddle  butterfly  clinging  to 
the  pretty  blossoms. 

Very  different  from  the  bright  yellow  cowslip  of  Europe  is 
our  odd,  misnamed  blossom. 


Bitter-bloom;     Rose-Pink;    Square-stemmed 
Sabbatia;  Rosy  Centaury 

(Sabbatia  angularis)  Gentian  family 

Flowers — Clear  rose  pink,  with  greenish  star  in  centre,   rarely 
white,  fragrant,  i  YZ  in.  broad  or  less,  usually  solitary  on  long 

13* 


Magenta  to  Pink 

peduncles  at  ends  of  branches.  Calyx  lobes  very  narrow  ; 
corolla  of  5  rounded  segments  ;  stamens  5  ;  style  2-cleft. 
Stem:  Sharply  4-angled,  2  to  3  ft.  high,  with  opposite 
branches,  leafy.  Leaves:  Opposite,  ^-nerved,  oval,  tapering 
at  tip,  and  clasping  stem  by  broad  base. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Rich  soil,  meadows,  thickets. 

Flowering  Season— July — August. 

Distribution — New  York  to  Florida,  westward  to  Ontario,  Michi- 
gan, and  Indian  Territory. 

During  the  drought  of  midsummer  the  lovely  rose-pink  blooms 
inland  with  cheerful  readiness  to  adapt  itself  to  harder  conditions 
than  most  of  its  moisture-loving  kin  will  tolerate  ;  but  it  may  be 
noticed  that  although  we  may  oftentimes  find  it  growing  in  dry 
soil,  it  never  spreads  in  such  luxuriant  clusters  as  when  the  roots 
are  struck  beside  meadow  runnels  and  ditches.  Probably  the  plant 
would  be  commoner  than  it  is  about  populous  Eastern  districts 
were  it  not  so  much  sought  after  as  a  tonic  medicine. 

It  was  the  Centaurea,  represented  here  by  the  blue  ragged 
sailor  of  gardens,  and  not  pur  Centaury,  a  distinctly  American 
group  of  plants,  which,  Ovid  tells  us,  cured  a  wound  in  the  foot 
of  the  Centaur  Chiron,  made  by  an  arrow  hurled  by  Hercules. 

Three  exquisite  members  of  the  Sabbatia  tribe  keep  close  to 
the  Atlantic  coast  in  salt  meadows  and  marshes,  along  the  borders 
of  brackish  rivers,  and  very  rarely  in  the  sand  at  the  edges  of 
fresh-water  ponds  a  little  way  inland.  From  Maine  to  Florida 
they  range,  and  less  frequently  are  met  along  the  shores  of  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  so  far  as  Louisiana.  How  bright  and  dainty  they 
are  !  Whole  meadows  are  radiant  with  their  blushing  loveliness. 
Probably  if  they  consented  to  live  far  away  from  the  sea,  they 
would  lose  some  of  the  deep,  clear  pink  from  out  their  lovely 
petals,  since  all  flowers  show  a  tendency  to  brighten  their  colors 
as  they  approach  the  coast.  In  England  some  of  the  same  wild 
flowers  we  have  here  are  far  deeper-hued,  owing,  no  doubt,  to 
the  fact  that  they  live  on  a  sea-girt,  moisture-laden  island,  and 
also  that  the  sun  never  scorches  and  blanches  at  the  far  north  as 
it  does  in  the  United  States. 

As  might  be  expected,  blossoms  so  bright  of  hue  as  the  marsh 
pinks  attract  many  insects.  Guided  by  the  yellow  eye  that  serves 
as  a  pathfinder  to  the  nectary,  they  feast  on  the  generous  supply 
of  sweets  ;  but  all  unwittingly  they  must  pay  for  their  entertain- 
ment by  carrying  pollen  from  early  to  later  flowers.  Like  so 
many  other  blossoms,  the  sabbatias  guard  themselves  against  the 
evils  of  self-fertilization  by  shedding  their  pollen  before  they  ma- 
ture and  spread  their  two-cleft  style,  which  is  now  ready  to  receive 
the  golden,  quickening  dust  on  its  stigmatic  inner  surfaces. 

The  Sea  or  Marsh  Pink,  or  Rose  of  Plymouth  (S.  stellaris), 

132 


Magenta  to  Pink 

whose  graceful  alternate  branching  stem  attains  a  height  of  two 
feet  only  under  most  favorable  conditions,  from  July  to  September 
opens  a  succession  of  pink  flowers  that  often  fade  to  white.  The 
yellow  eye  is  bordered  with  carmine.  They  measure  about  one 
inch  across,  and  are  usually  solitary  at  the  ends  of  branches,  or 
else  sway  on  slender  peduncles  from  the  axils.  The  upper  leaves 
are  narrow  and  bract-like  ;  those  lower  down  gradually  widen  as 
they  approach  the  root. 

Similar  to  the  Rose  of  Plymouth  is  the  even  more  graceful 
Slender  Marsh  Pink  (S.  Campanulata) — the  5.  gracilis  of  Gray — 
whose  upper  leaves  are  almost  thread-like  in  their  narrowness. 
Its  five  calyx  lobes,  too,  are  exceedingly  slender,  and  often  as  long 
as  the  corolla  lobes.  One  of  our  soldiers  in  Cuba,  during  the 
Spanish  War,  sent  home  to  his  sister  in  Massachusetts  some  of 
these  same  little  flowers  in  a  letter.  "You  would  just  love  to 
see  the  marshes  here,"  he  wrote.  "They  are  filled  with  beauti- 
ful little  pink  flowers.  I  wish  1  knew  their  names."  That  soldier 
had  passed  by  New  England  marshes  aglow  with  the  blossoms 
all  his  life,  but  he  had  never  noticed  them  until  all  his  perceptions 
became  quickened  by  the  stimulus  of  travel  and  the  excitement 
of  war.  How  blind  and  deaf  we  all  are  in  some  directions  ;  hav- 
ing eyes  we  see  not,  and  ears  we  hear  not,  in  the  natural  as  in 
the  spiritual  realm. 

No  danger  of  confusing  the  Large  Marsh  Pink  (5.  dodecandrd) 
— 5.  chloroides  of  Gray — with  its  smaller,  more  branching  rela- 
tives. It  displays  few  flowers  to  a  plant,  but  each  measures  two 
and  a  half  inches  or  less  across,  and  has  from  nine  to  twelve  pink 
(or  rarely  white)  petals.  This  sabbatia  often  chooses  the  sandy 
borders  of  ponds  for  its  habitat. 

Spreading    Dogbane;    Fly-trap    Dogbane; 
Honey-bloom  ;    Bitter-root 

(Apocynum  androsaemifolium)  Dogbane  family 

Flowers — Delicate  pink,  veined  with  a  deeper  shade,  fragrant,  bell- 
shaped,  about  YI  in.  across,  borne  in  loose  terminal  cymes. 
Calyx  5-parted  ;  corolla  of  5  spreading,  recurved  lobes  united 
into  a  tube  ;  within  the  tube  5  tiny,  triangular  appendages 
alternate  with  stamens  ;  the  arrow-shaped  anthers  united 
around  the  stigma  and  slightly  adhering  to  it.  Stem :  i  to  4 
ft.  high,  with  forking,  spreading,  leafy  branches.  Leaves: 
Opposite,  entire-edged,  broadly  oval,  narrow  at  base,  paler, 
and  more  or  less  hairy  below.  Fruit :  Two  pods  about  4  in. 
long. 


Magenta  to  Pink 

Preferred  Habitat—  Fields,  thickets,  beside  roads,  lanes,  and  walls. 
Flowering  Season — June— July. 

Distribution — Northern  part  of  British  Possessions  south  to  Georgia, 
westward  to  Nebraska. 

Everywhere  at  the  North  we  come  across  this  interesting, 
rather  shrubby  plant,  with  its  pretty  but  inconspicuous  little 
rose-veined  bells  suggesting  pink  lilies-of-the-valley.  Now  that 
we  have  learned  to  read  the  faces  of  flowers,  as  it  were,  we  in- 
stantly suspect  by  the  color,  fragrance,  pathfinders,  and  structure 
that  these  are  artful  wilers,  intent  on  gaining  ends  of  their  own 
through  their  insect  admirers.  What  are  they  up  to  ? 

Let  us  watch.  Bees,  flies,  moths,  and  butterflies,  especially 
the  latter,  hover  near.  Alighting,  the  butterfly  visitor  unrolls  his 
long  tongue  and  inserts  it  where  the  five  pink  veins  tell  him  to, 
for  five  nectar-bearing  glands  stand  in  a  ring  around  the  base  of 
the  pistil.  Now,  as  he  withdraws  his  slender  tongue  through  one 
of  the  V-shaped  cavities  that  make  a  circle  of  traps,  he  may  count 
himself  lucky  to  escape  with  no  heavier  toll  imposed  than  pollen 
cemented  to  it.  This  granular  dust  he  is  required  to  rub  off 
against  the  stigma  of  the  next  flower  entered.  Some  bees,  too, 
have  been  taken  with  the  dogbane's  pollen  cemented  to  their 
tongues.  But  suppose  a  fly  call  upon  this  innocent-looking  blos- 
som ?  His  short  tongue,  as  well  as  the  butterfly's,  is  guided  into 
one  of  the  V-shaped  cavities  after  he  has  sipped  ;  but,  getting 
wedged  between  the  trap's  horny  teeth,  the  poor  little  victim  is 
held  a  prisoner  there  until  he  slowly  dies  of  starvation  in  sight  of 
plenty.  This  is  the  penalty  he  must  pay  for  trespassing  on  the 
butterfly's  preserves !  The  dogbane,  which  is  perfectly  adapted 
to  the  butterfly,  and  dependent  upon  it  for  help  in  producing  fer- 
tile seed,  ruthlessly  destroys  all  poachers  that  are  not  big  or  strong 
enough  to  jerk  away  from  its  vise-like  grasp.  One  often  sees 
small  flies  and  even  moths  dead  and  dangling  by  the  tongue  from 
the  wicked  little  charmers.  If  the  flower  assimilated  their  dead 
bodies  as  the  pitcher  plant,  for  example,  does  those  of  its  victims, 
the  fly's  fate  would  seem  less  cruel.  To  be  killed  by  slow  torture 
and  dangled  like  a  scarecrow  simply  for  pilfering  a  drop  of  nectar 
is  surely  an  execution  of  justice  mediaeval  in  its  severity. 

In  July  the  most  splendid  of  our  native  beetles,  the  green 
dandy  (Eumolpus  auratus)  fastens  itself  to  the  dogbane's  foliage 
in  numbers  until  often  the  leaves  appear  to  be  studded  with  these 
brilliant  little  jewels.  "It  is  not  easy,"  says  William  Hamilton 
Gibson,  "to  describe  its  burnished  hue,  which  is  either  shimmer- 
ing green,  or  peacock  blue,  or  purplish-green,  or  refulgent  ruby, 
according  to  the  position  in  which  it  rests."  But  it  is  not  golden, 
as  its  specific  name  would  imply.  It  confines  itself  exclusively  to 
the  dogbane.  To  prevent  capture,  it  has  a  trick  of  drawing  up 
its  legs  and  rolling  off  into  the  grass  its  body  so  cleverly  matches. 


Magenta  to  Pink 

From  the  silky  coma  on  which  the  small  seeds  float  away 
from  long  pods  to  found  new  colonies,  from  the  opposite  leaves, 
milky  juice,  and  certain  structural  resemblances  in  the  flowers, 
one  might  guess  this  plant  belonged  to  the  milkweed  tribe.  For- 
merly it  was  so  classed  ;  and  although  the  botanists  have  now 
removed  its  family  one  step  away,  the  milkweed  butterflies,  es- 
pecially the  Monarch  (Anosia  plexippus),  ignoring  the  arbitrary 
dividing  line  of  man,  still  includes  the  dogbane  on  its  visiting  list. 
We  know  that  this  plant  derived  its  name  from  the  fact  that  it  was 
considered  poisonous  to  dogs  ;  and  we  also  know  that  all  the 
tribe  of  milkweed  butterflies  are  provided  with  protective  secre- 
tions which  are  distasteful  to  birds  and  predaceous  insects,  enjoy- 
ing their  immunity  from  attack,  it  is  thought,  from  the  acrid, 
poisonous  character  of  the  foliage  on  which  the  caterpillars  feed. 


Common  Milkweed  or  Silkweed 

(Asclepias  Syriaca)  Milkweed  family 
(A.  cornuti  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Dull,  pale  greenish  purple  pink,  or  brownish  pink,  borne 
on  pedicels,  in  many  flowered,  broad  umbels.  Calyx  inferior, 
5-parted  ;  corolla  deeply  5-cleft,  the  segments  turned  back- 
ward. Above  them  an  erect,  5-parted  crown,  each  part 
called  a  hood,  containing  a  nectary,  and  with  a  tooth  on 
either  side,  and  an  incurved  horn  projecting  from  within. 
Behind  the  crown  the  short,  stout  stamens,  united  by  their 
filaments  in  a  tube,  are  inserted  on  the  corolla.  Broad 
anthers  united  around  a  thick  column  of  pistils  terminating 
in  a  large,  sticky,  ^-angled  disk.  The  anther  sacs  tipped 
with  a  winged  membrane  ;  a  waxy,  pear-shaped  pollen- 
mass  in  each  sac  connected  with  the  stigma  in  pairs  or  fours 
by  a  dark  gland,  and  suspended  by  a  stalk  like  a  pair  of  sad- 
dle-bags. Stem:  Stout,  leafy,  usually  unbranched,  3  to  5  ft. 
high,  juice  milky.  Leaves:  Opposite,  oblong,  entire-edged, 
smooth  above,  hairy  below,  4  to  9  in.  long.  Fruit:  2  thick, 
warty  pods,  usually  only  one  filled  with  compressed  seeds 
attached  to  tufts  of  silky,  white,  fluffy  hairs. 

Preferred  Habitat — Fields  and  waste  places,  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — June — September. 

Distribution— New  Brunswick,  far  westward  and  southward  to 
North  Carolina  and  Kansas. 

After  the  orchids,  no  flowers  show  greater  executive  ability, 
none  have  adopted  more  ingenious  methods  of  compelling  insects 
to  work  for  them  than  the  milkweeds.  Wonderfully  have  they 

US 


Magenta  to  Pink 

perfected  their  mechanism  in  every  part  until  no  member  of  tht, 
family  even  attempts  to  fertilize  itself;  hence  their  triumphal, 
vigorous  march  around  the  earth,  the  tribe  numbering  over  nine- 
teen hundred  species  located  chiefly  in  those  tropical  and  warm, 
temperate  regions  that  teem  with  insect  life. 

Commonest  of  all  with  us  is  this  rank  weed,  which  possesses 
the  dignity  of  a  rubber  plant.  Much  more  attractive  to  human 
eyes,  at  least,  than  the  dull,  pale,  brownish-pink  umbels  of 
flowers  are  its  exquisite  silky  seed-tufts.  But  not  so  with  insects. 
Knowing  that  the  slightly  fragrant  blossoms  are  rich  in  nectar, 
bees,  wasps,  flies,  beetles,  and  butterflies  come  to  feast.  Now, 
the  visitor  finding  his  alighting  place  slippery,  his  feet  claw  about 
in  all  directions  to  secure  a  hold,  just  as  it  was  planned  they 
should  ;  for  in  his  struggles  some  of  his  feet  must  get  caught  in 
the  fine  little  clefts  at  the  base  of  the  flower.  His  efforts  to  extri- 
cate his  foot  only  draw  it  into  a  slot  at  the  end  of  which  lies  a 
little  dark-brown  body.  In  a  newly  opened  flower  five  of  these 
little  bodies  may  be  seen  between  the  horns  of  the  crown,  at 
equal  distances  around  it.  This  tiny  brown  excrescence  is  hard 
and  horny,  with  a  notch  in  its  face.  It  is  continuous  with  and 
forms  the  end  of  the  slot  in  which  the  visitor's  foot  is  caught. 
Into  this  he  must  draw  his  foot  or  claw,  and  finding  it  rather 
tightly  held,  must  give  a  vigorous  jerk  to  get  it  free.  Attached 
to  either  side  of  the  little  horny  piece  is  a  flattened  yellow  pollen- 
mass,  and  so  away  he  flies  with  a  pair  of  these  pollinia,  that  look 
like  tiny  saddle-bags,  dangling  from  his  feet.  One  might  think 
that  such  rough  handling  as  many  insects  must  submit  to  from 
flowers  would  discourage  them  from  making  any  more  visits  ; 
but  the  desire  for  food  is  a  mighty  passion.  While  the  insect  is 
flying  off  to  another  blossom,  the  stalk  to  which  the  saddle-bags 
are  attached  twists  until  it  brings  them  together,  that,  when  his 
feet  get  caught  in  other  slots,  they  may  be  in  the  position  to  get 
broken  off  in  his  struggles  for  freedom  precisely  where  they  will 
fertilize  the  stigmatic  chambers.  Now  the  visitor  flies  away 
with  the  stalks  alone  sticking  to  his  claws.  Bumblebees  and 
hive-bees  have  been  caught  with  a  dozen  pollen-masses  dangling 
from  a  single  foot.  Outrageous  imposition ! 

Does  this  wonderful  mechanism  always  work  to  perfection  ? 
Alas!  no.  It  is  a  common  thing  to  find  dead  hive-bees  and  flies 
hanging  from  the  flowers.  While  still  struggling  to  escape,  the 
unhappy  victims  will  be  attacked  by  ants,  beetles,  and  spiders, 
or  killed  by  heavy  showers.  Larger  and  stronger  insects  than 
honey-bees  are  required  to  regularly  effect  pollination  and  free 
themselves,  especially  when  they  are  so  unfortunate  as  to  catch 
several  feet  in  the  grooves.  Doubtless  it  is  the  bumblebee  that 
can  transfer  pollen  with  impunity  ;  but  very  many  other  insects, 
not  perfectly  adapted  to  the  flowers,  occasionally  benefit  them. 
Among  the  large  butterflies  the  Papilios,  which  suck  with  their 

136 


Magenta  to  Pink 

wings  in  motion,  are  the  most  useful,  because  in  using  their  legs 
to  offset  the  motion  of  their  wings  they  rapidly  repeat  those 
movements  which  are  necessary  to  draw  the  pollinia  from  the 
anther  cells  and  insert  them  in  the  stigmatic  chambers  of  other 
flowers.  "Large  butterflies  like  Danais,"  says  Professor  Rob- 
ertson, "hold  their  wings  still  in  sucking,  spending  more  time 
on  an  umbel,  but  generally  carrying  pollinia.  Small  butterflies 
are  worse  than  useless.  They  remain  long  on  the  umbels  suck- 
ing, but  resting  their  feet  superficially  on  the  flowers.  .  .  . 
Since  several  moths  were  found  entrapped,  pollination  must  often 
be  brought  about  by  night-flying  Lepidoptera,  As  a  rule,  Diptera 
(flies)  either  do  not  transfer  pollinia  at  all,  or  become  hopelessly 
entangled  when  they  do."  Occasionally  pollen-masses  are  found 
on  the  tongues  of  insects,  especially  on  those  of  bees  and  wasps, 
which  move  about  with  their  unruly  member  sticking  out. 
Probably  no  one  has  ever  made  the  exhaustive  and  absorbingly 
.interesting  study  of  the  milkweeds  that  Professor  Robertson  has. 

Better  than  any  written  description  of  the  milkweed  blossom's 
mechanism  is  a  simple  experiment.  If  you  have  neither  time  nor 
patience  to  sit  in  the  hot  sun,  magmfying-glass  in  hand,  and 
watch  for  an  unwary  insect  to  get  caught,  take  an  ordinary  house- 
fly, and  hold  it  by  the  wings  so  that  it  may  claw  at  one  of  the 
newly  opened  flowers  from  which  no  pollinia  have  been  removed. 
It  tries  frantically  to  hold  on,  and  with  a  little  direction  it  may  be 
led  to  catch  its  claws  in  the  slots  of  the  flower.  Now  pull  it 
gently  away,  and  you  will  find  a  pair  of  saddle-bags  slung  over 
his  foot  by  a  slender  curved  stalk.  If  you  are  rarely  skilful,  you 
may  induce  your  fly  to  withdraw  the  pollinia  from  all  five  slots 
on  as  many  of  his  feet.  And  they  are  not  to  be  thrown  or  scraped 
off,  let  the  fly  try  as  hard  as  he  pleases.  You  may  now  invite  the 
fly  to  take  a  walk  on  another  flower  in  which  he  will  probably 
leave  one  or  more  pollinia  in  its  stigmatic  cavities. 

Dr.  Kerner  thought  the  milky  juice  in  milkweed  plants, 
especially  abundant  in  the  uppermost  leaves  and  stems,  serves  to 
protect  the  flowers  from  useless  crawling  pilferers.  He  once 
started  a  number  of  ants  to  climb  up  a  milky  stalk.  When  they 
neared  the  summit,  he  noticed  that  at  each  movement  the  terminal 
hooks  of  their  feet  cut  through  the  tender  epiderm,  and  from  the 
little  clefts  the  milky  juice  began  to  flow,  bedraggling  their  feet 
and  the  hind  part  of  their  bodies.  ' '  The  ants  were  much  impeded 
in  their  movements,"  he  writes,  "  and  in  order  to  rid  themselves 
of  the  annoyance,  drew  their  feet  through  their  mouths.  .  .  . 
Their  movements,  however,  which  accompanied  these  efforts, 
simply  resulted  in  making  fresh  fissures  and  fresh  discharges  of 
milky  juice,  so  that  the  position  of  the  ants  became  each  moment 
worse  and  worse.  Many  escaped  by  getting  to  the  edge  of  a  leaf 
;md  dropping  to  the  ground.  Others  tried  this  method  of  escape 
too  late,  for  the  air  soon  hardened  the  milky  juice  into  a  tough 


Magenta  to  Pink 

brown  substance,  and  after  this,  all  the  smugglings  of  the  ants  to 
free  themselves  from  the  viscid  matter  were  in  vain."  Nature's 
methods  of  preserving  a  flower's  nectar  for  the  insects  that  are 
especially  adapted  to  fertilize  it,  and  of  punishing  all  useless  in- 
truders, often  shock  us  ;  yet  justice  is  ever  stern,  ever  kind  in  the 
largest  sense. 

If  the  asclepias  really  do  kill  some  insects  with  their  juice, 
others  doubtless  owe  their  lives  to  it.  Among  the  "  protected  " 
insects  are  the  milkweed  butterflies  and  their  caterpillars,  which 
are  provided  with  secretions  that  are  distasteful  to  birds  and  pre- 
daceous  insects.  "  These  acrid  secretions  are  probably  due  to  the 
character  of  the  plants  upon  which  the  caterpillars  feed,"  says  Dr. 
Holland,  in  his  beautiful  and  invaluable  "  Butterfly  Book."  "  En- 
joying on  this  account  immunity  from  attack,  they  have  all,  in 
the  process  of  time,  been  mimicked  by  species  in  other  genera 
which  have  not  the  same  immunity."  "One  cannot  stay  long 
around  a  patch  of  milkweeds  without  seeing  the  monarch  butterfly 
(Anosia  plexippus),  that  splendid,  bright,  reddish-brown  winged 
fellow,  the  borders  and  veins  broadly  black,  with  two  rows  of 
white  spots  on  the  outer  borders  and  two  rows  of  pale  spots  across 
the  tip  of  the  fore  wings.  There  is  a  black  scent-pouch  on  the 
hind  wings.  The  caterpillar,  which  is  bright  yellow  or  greenish 
yellow,  banded  with  shining  black,  is  furnished  with  black  fleshy 
'horns  '  fore  and  aft." 

Like  the  dandelion,  thistle,  and  other  triumphant  strugglers 
for  survival,  the  milkweed  sends  its  offspring  adrift  on  the  winds 
to  found  fresh  colonies  afar.  Children  delight  in  making  pompons 
for  their  hats  by  removing  the  silky  seed-tufts  from  pods  before 
they  burst,  and  winding  them,  one  by  one,  on  slender  stems 
with  fine  thread.  Hung  in  the  sunshine,  how  charmingly  fluffy 
and  soft  they  dry  ! 

Among  the  comparatively  few  butterfly  flowers — although, 
of  course,  other  insects  not  adapted  to  them  are  visitors — is  the 
Purple  Milkweed  (A.  purpurasceus),  whose  deep  magenta  umbels 
are  so  conspicuous  through  the  summer  months.  Humming- 
birds occasionally  seek  it  too.  From  Eastern  Massachusetts  to 
Virginia,  and  westward  to  the  Mississippi,  or  beyond,  it  is  to  be 
found  in  dry  fields,  woods,  and  thickets. 

The  Swamp  Milkweed  (A.  incarnata),  on  the  other  hand, 
rears  its  intense  purplish-red  or  pinkish  hoods  in  wet  places.  Its 
leaves  are  lance-shaped  or  oblong-lanceolate,  whereas  the  purple 
milkweed's  leaves  are  oblong  or  ovate-oblong.  This  is  a  smooth 
plant  ;  and  a  similar  species  once  reckoned  as  a  mere  variety 
(A.  pulchrd)  is  the  Hairy  Milkweed.  It  differs  chiefly  in  having 
some  hairs  on  the  under  side  of  its  leaves,  and  a  great  many  hairs 


Magenta  to  Pink 

on   its  stem.     Both  plants  bear  erect,  rather  slender,   tapering 
pods. 

The  Poke,  or  Tall  Milkweed  (A.  exaltata) — A.  phytolaecoides 
of  Gray — may  attain  a  height  of  six  feet  if  the  moist  soil  in  which 
it  grows  be  exactly  to  its  liking.  Drooping  or  spreading  umbels 
of  flowers  whose  corolla  segments  are  pale  purplish  green,  and 
whose  crown  is  clear  ivory  white  or  pink,  appear  from  June  to 
August  from  Maine  to  Georgia  and  far  westward.  Sometimes  the 
tapering  oblong  leaves  maybe  nine  inches  long.  The  erect  seed- 
pods  are  drawn  out  to  an  unusually  long  point. 

One  may  always  distinguish  the  low-growing  Four-leaved 
Milkweed  (A.  quadrifolia)  from  its  relatives  of  ranker  growth  by 
its  general  air  of  refinement,  as  well  as  by  the  two  pairs  of  thin, 
tapering  leaves  that  grow  in  an  upright  whorl  near  the  middle  of 
the  slender  stem.  Usually  there  are  no  leaves  on  the  lower  part. 
Small  terminal  umbels  of  delicate  pink  and  white  fragrant  flow- 
ers, which  appear  from  May  till  July,  give  place  to  very  narrow 
pointed  pods  in  late  summer.  From  Maine  to  Ontario  southward 
to  North  Carolina  and  Arkansas  is  its  range,  in  woods  and  thickets 
chiefly. 


Hedge  or  Great  Bindweed ;  Wild  Morning- 
glory;  Rutland  Beauty;  Bell-bind;  Lady's 
Nightcap 

(Convolvulus  sepium)  Morning-glory  family 
(Calystegia  sepium  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Light  pink,  with  white  stripes  or  all  white,  bell-shaped, 
about  2  in.  long,  twisted  in  the  bud,  solitary,  on  long  peduncles 
from  leaf  axils.  Calyx  of  5  sepals,  concealed  by  2  large  bracts 
at  base.  Corolla  5-lobed,  the  5  included  stamens  inserted 
on  its  tube  ;  style  with  2  oblong  stigmas.  Stem:  Smooth 
or  hairy,  3  to  10  ft.  long,  twining  or  trailing  over  ground. 
Leaves :  Triangular  or  arrow-shaped,  2  to  5  in.  long,  on  slen- 
der petioles. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Wayside  hedges,  thickets,  fields,  walls. 

Flowering  Season—] une — September. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  North  Carolina,  westward  to  Ne- 
braska. Europe  and  Asia. 

No  one  need  be  told  {hat  the  pretty,  bell-shaped  pink  and 
white  flower  on  the  vigorous  vine  clambering  over  stone  walls 
and  winding  about  the  shrubbery  of  wayside  thickets  in  a  suffo- 

139 


Magenta  to  Pink 

eating  embrace  is  akin  to  the  morning-glory  of  the  garden  trellis 
(C.  major).  An  exceedingly  rapid  climber,  the  twining  stem  often 
describes  a  complete  circle  in  two  hours,  turning  against  the  sun, 
or  just  contrary  to  the  hands  of  a  watch.  Late  in  the  season, 
when  an  abundance  of  seed  has  been  set,  the  flower  can  well 
afford  to  keep  open  longer  hours,  also  in  rainy  weather  ;  but  early 
in  the  summer,  at  least,  it  must  attend  to  business  only  while  the 
sun  shines  and  its  benefactors  are  flying.  Usually  it  closes  at 
sundown.  On  moonlight  nights,  however,  the  hospitable  blossom 
keeps  open  for  the  benefit  of  certain  moths.  In  Europe  the  plant's 
range  is  supposed  to  be  limited  to  that  of  a  crepuscular  moth 
(Sphinx  convolvuli),  and  where  that  benefactor  is  rare,  as  in 
England,  the  bindweed  sets  few  seeds  ;  where  it  does  not  occur, 
as  in  Scotland,  this  convolvulus  is  seldom  found  wild  ;  whereas 
in  Italy  Delpino  tells  of  catching  numbers  of  the  moths  in  hedges 
overgrown  with  the  common  plant,  by  standing  with  thumb  and 
forefinger  over  a  flower,  ready  to  close  it  when  the  insect  has 
entered.  We  know  that  every  floral  clock  is  regulated  by  the 
hours  of  flight  of  its  insect  friends.  When  they  have  retired,  the 
flowers  close  to  protect  nectar  and  pollen  from  useless  pilferers. 
In  this  country  various  species  of  bees  chiefly  fertilize  the  bind- 
weed blossoms.  Guided  by  the  white  streaks,  or  pathfinders,  they 
crawl  into  the  deep  tube  and  sip  through  one  of  the  five  narrow 
passages  leading  to  the  nectary.  A  transverse  section  of  the 
flower  cut  to  show  these  five  passages  standing  in  a  circle  around 
the  central  ovary  looks  like  the  end  of  a  five-barrelled  revolver. 
Insects  without  a  suitably  long  proboscis  are,  of  course,  excluded 
by  this  arrangement. 

From  July  until  hard  frost  look  for  that  exquisite  little  beetle, 
Cassida  aurichalcea,  like  a  drop  of  molten  gold,  clinging  beneath 
the  bindweed's  leaves.  The  small  perforations  reveal  his  hiding 
places.  "But  you  must  be  quick  if  you  would  capture  him," 
says  William  Hamilton  Gibson,  "for  he  is  off  in  a  spangling 
streak  of  glitter.  Nor  is  this  golden  sheen  all  the  resource  of  the 
little  insect  ;  for  in  the  space  of  a  few  seconds,  as  you  hold  him 
in  your  hand,  he  has  become  a  milky,  iridescent  opal,  and  now 
mother-of-pearl,  and  finally  crawls  before  you  in  a  coat  of  dull 
orange."  A  dead  beetle  loses  all  this  wonderful  lustre.  Even  on 
the  morning-glory  in  our  gardens  we  may  sometimes  find  these 
jewelled  mites,  or  their  fork-tailed,  black  larvae,  or  the  tiny  chrysa- 
lids  suspended  by  their  tails,  although  it  is  the  wild  bindweed  that 
is  ever  their  favorite  abiding  place. 


The  small  Field  Bindweed  (C.  arvensis),  a  common  immi- 
grant from  Europe,  which  has  taken  up  its  abode  from  Nova 
Scotia  and  Ontario  southward  to  New  Jersey,  and  westward  to 
Kansas,  trails  over  the  ground  with  a  deathless  persistency  which 

140 


Magenta  to  Pink 

fills  farmers  with  dismay.  It  is  like  a  small  edition  of  the  hedge 
bindweed,  only  its  calyx  lacks  the  leaf-like  bracts  at  its  base,  its 
slender  stem  rarely  exceeds  two  feet  in  length,  and  the  little  pink 
and  white  flowers  often  grow  in  pairs.  Their  habit  of  closing 
both  in  the  evening  and  in  rainy  weather  indicates  that  they  are 
adapted  for  diurnal  insects  only  ;  but  if  the  bell  hang  down,  or 
if  the  corolla  drop  off,  the  pollen  must  fall  on  the  stigma  and 
effect  self-fertilization.  Many  more  insects  visit  this  flower  than 
the  large  bindweed,  attracted  by  the  peculiar  fragrance,  and  led 
by  the  white  streaks  to  the  orange-colored  under  surface  of  the 
ovary,  where  the  nectar  lies  concealed.  Stigmas  and  anthers  ma- 
ture at  the  same  time  ;  but  as  the  former  are  slightly  the  longer, 
they  receive  pollen  brought  from  another  flower  before  the  visitor 
gets  freshly  dusted. 


Ground  or  Moss  Pink 

(Phlox  subulata)  Phlox  family 

Flowers — Very  numerous,  small,  deep  purplish  pink,  lavender  or 
rose,  varying  to  white,  with  a  darker  eye,  growing  in  simple 
cymes,  or  solitary  in  a  Western  variety.  Calyx  with  5  slen- 
der teeth  ;  corolla  salver-form  with  5  spreading  lobes  ;  5  sta- 
mens inserted  on  corolla  tube ;  style  3-lobed.  Stems :  Rarely 
exceeding  6  in.  in  height,  tufted  like  mats,  much  branched, 
plentifully  set  with  awl-shaped,  evergreen  leaves  barely  >£ 
in.  long,  growing  in  tufts  at  joints  of  stem. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rocky  ground,  hillsides. 

Flowering  Season — April — June. 

Distribution — Southern  New  York  to  Florida,  westward  to  Michi- 
gan and  Kentucky. 

A  charming  little  plant,  growing  in  dense  evergreen  mats 
with  which  Nature  carpets  dry,  sandy,  and  rocky  hillsides,  is  often 
completely  hidden  beneath  its  wealth  of  flowers.  Far  beyond  its 
natural  range,  as  well  as  within  it,  the  moss  pink  glows  in  gar- 
dens, cemeteries,  and  parks,  wherever  there  are  rocks  to  conceal 
or  sterile  wastes  to  beautify.  Very  slight  encouragement  induces 
it  to  run  wild.  There  are  great  rocks  in  Central  Park,  New  York, 
worth  travelling  miles  to  see  in  early  May,  when  their  stern  faces 
are  flushed  and  smiling  with  these  blossoms. 

Another  low  ground  species  is  the  Crawling  Phlox  (P.  rep- 
tans}.  It  rarely  exceeds  six  inches  in  height  ;  nevertheless  its 
larger  pink,  purple,  or  white  flowers,  clustered  after  the  manner  of 
the  tall  garden  phloxes,  are  among  the  most  showy  to  be  found 
in  the  spring  woods.  A  number  of  sterile  shoots  with  obovate 
leaves,  tapering  toward  the  base,  rise  from  the  runners  and  set 

141 


Magenta  to  Pink 

off  the  brilliant  blossoms  among  their  neat  foliage.  From  Penn- 
sylvania southward  and  westward  is  its  range,  especially  in 
mountainous  regions  ;  but  this  plant,  too,  was  long  ago  trans- 
planted from  Nature's  gardens  into  man's. 

Large  patches  of  the  Downy  Phlox  (P.  pilosa)  brighten  dry 
prairie  land  with  its  pinkish  blossoms  in  late  spring.  Britton  and 
Brown's  botany  gives  its  range  as  "Ontario  to  Manitoba,  New 
Jersey,  Florida,  Arkansas,  and  Texas."  The  plant  does  its  best 
to  attain  a  height  of  two  feet  ;  usually  its  flowers  are  much  nearer 
the  ground.  Butterflies,  the  principal  visitors  of  most  phloxes, 
although  long-tongued  bees  and  even  flies  can  sip  their  nectar,  are 
ever  seen  hovering  above  them  and  transfering  pollen,  although 
in  this  species  the  style  is  so  short  pollen  must  often  fall  into  the 
tube  and  self-fertilize  the  stigma.  To  protect  the  flowers  from 
useless  crawling  visitors,  the  calices  are  coated  with  sticky  matter, 
and  the  stems  are  downy. 


Obedient    Plant;    False    Dragonhead;    Lion's 
Heart 

(Physostegia  Virginiana)  Mint  family 

Flowers — Pale  magenta,  purplish  rose,  or  flesh-colored,  often  varie- 
gated with  white,  I  in.  long  or  over,  in  dense  spikes  from  4  to 
8  in.  long.  Calyx  a  s-toothed  oblong  bell,  swollen  and  remain- 
ing open  in  fruit,  held  up  by  lance-shaped  bracts.  Corolla 
tubular  and  much  enlarged  where  it  divides  into  2  lips,  the 
upper  lip  concave,  rounded,  entire,  the  lower  lip  3  lobed. 
Stamens  4,  in  two  pairs  under  roof  of  upper  lip,  the  filaments 
hairy  ;  i  pistil.  Stem :  i  to  4  ft.  high,  simple  or  branched 
above,  leafy.  Leaves:  Opposite,  firm,  oblong  to  oblong- 
lanceolate,  narrowing  at  base,  deeply  saw-edged. 

Preferred  Habitat — Moist  soil. 

Flowering  Season — July — September. 

Distribution — Quebec  to  the  Northwest  Territory,  southward  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  as  far  west  as  Texas. 

Bright  patches  of  this  curious  flower  enliven  railroad  ditches, 
gutters,  moist  meadows  and  brooksides — curious,  for  it  has  the 
peculiarity  of  remaining  in  any  position  in  which  it  is  placed. 
With  one  puff  a  child  can  easily  blow  the  blossoms  to  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  spike,  there  to  stay  in  meek  obedience  to  his  will. 
"The  flowers  are  made  to  assume  their  definite  position,"  says 
Professor  W.  W.  Bailey  in  the  "  Botanical  Gazette,"  "by  friction  of 
the  pedicels  against  the  subtending  bracts.  Remove  the  bracts, 
and  they  at  once  fall  limp." 

Of  course  the  plant  has  some  better  reason  for  this  peculiar 
142 


Magenta  to  Pink 

obedience  to  every  breath  that  blows  than  to  amuse  windy- 
cheeked  boys  and  girls.  Is  not  the  ready  movement  useful  dur- 
ing stormy  weather  in  turning  the  mouth  of  the  flower  away  from 
driving  rain,  and  in  fair  days,  when  insects  are  abroad,  in  present- 
ing its  gaping  lips  where  they  can  best  alight  ?  We  all  know 
that  insects,  like  birds,  make  long  flights  most  easily  with  the 
wind,  but  in  rising  and  alighting  it  is  their  practice  to  turn  against 
it.  When  bees,  for  example,  are  out  for  food  on  windy  days,  and 
must  make  frequent  stops  for  refreshment  among  the  flowers, 
they  will  be  found  going  against  the  wind,  possibly  to  catch  the 
whiffs  of  fragrance  borne  on  it  that  guide  them  to  feast,  but  more 
likely  that  they  may  rise  and  alight  readily.  One  always  sees 
bumblebees  conspicuous  among  the  obedient  plant's  visitors. 
After  the  anthers  have  shed  their  pollen — and  tiny  teeth  at  the 
edges  of  the  outer  pair  aid  its  complete  removal  by  insects — the 
stigma  comes  up  to  occupy  their  place  under  the  roof.  Certainly 
this  flower,  which  is  so  ill-adapted  to  fertilize  itself,  has  every 
reason  to  court  insect  messengers  in  fair  and  stormy  weather. 


Motherwort 

(Leonurus  Cardiacd)  Mint  family. 

Flowers — Dull  purple  pink,  pale  purple,  or  white,  small,  clustered 
in  axils  of  upper  leaves.  Calyx  tubular,  bell-shaped,  with 
5  rigid  awl-like  teeth  ;  corolla  2-lipped,  upper  lip  arched, 
woolly  without  ;  lower  lip  ^-lobed,  spreading,  mottled  ; 
the  tube  with  oblique  ring  of  hairs  inside.  Four  twin-like 
stamens,  anterior  pair  longer,  reaching  under  upper  lip  ; 
style  2-cleft  at  summit.  Stem ;  2  to  5  ft.  tall,  straight, 
branched,  leafy,  purplish.  Leaves :  Opposite,  on  slender 
petioles  ;  lower  ones  rounded,  2  to  4  in.  broad,  palmately 
cut  into  2  to  5  lobes  ;  upper  leaves  narrower,  3-cleft  or  3- 
toothed. 

Preferred  Habitat — Waste  places  near  dwellings. 

Flowering  Season — j  une — September. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  southward  to  North  Carolina,  west  to 
Minnesota  and  Nebraska.  Naturalized  from  Europe  and 
Asia. 

"One  is  tempted  to  say  that  the  most  human  plants,  after 
all,  are  the  weeds,"  says  John  Burroughs.  "  How  they  cling  to 
man  and  follow  him  around  the  world,  and  spring  up  wherever 
he  sets  foot  !  How  they  crowd  around  his  barns  and  dwellings, 
and  throng  his  garden,  and  jostle  and  override  each  other  in  their 
strife  to  be  near  him  !  Some  of  them  are  so  domestic  and  familiar, 
and  so  harmless  v/ithal,  that  one  comes  to  regard  them  with 

MS 


Magenta  to  Pink 

positive  affection.  Motherwort,  catnip,  plantain,  tansy,  wild 
mustard — what  a  homely,  human  look  they  have  !  They  are  an 
integral  part  of  every  old  homestead.  Your  smart,  new  place 
will  wait  long  before  they  draw  near  it." 

How  the  bees  love  this  generous,  old-fashioned  entertainer  ! 
One  nearly  always  sees  them  clinging  to  the  close  whorls  of 
flowers  that  are  strung  along  the  stem,  and  of  course  transferring 
pollen,  in  recompense,  as  they  journey  on.  A  more  credulous 
generation  imported  the  plant  for  its  alleged  healing  virtues. 
What  is  the  significance  of  its  Greek  name,  meaning  a  lion's  tail? 
Let  no  one  suggest,  by  a  far-stretched  metaphor,  that  our  grand- 
mothers, in  Revolutionary  days,  enjoyed  pulling  it  to  vent  their 
animosity  against  the  British. 


Wild  Bergamot 

(Monar da  fistulosd)  Mint  family 

Flowers — Extremely  variable,  purplish,  lavender,  magenta,  rose, 
pink,  yellowish  pink,  or  whitish,  dotted ;  clustered  in  a  soli- 
tary, nearly  flat  terminal  head.  Calyx  tubular,  narrow,  5- 
toothed,  very  hairy  within.  Corolla  i  to  \y2  in.  long, 
tubular,  2-lipped,  upper  lip  erect,  toothed  ;  lower  lip  spread- 
ing, 3-lobed,  middle  lobe  longest ;  2  anther-bearing  stamens 
protruding  ;  i  pistil ;  the  style  2-lobed.  Stem :  2  to  3  ft. 
high,  rough,  branched.  Leaves:  Opposite,  lance-shaped, 
saw-edged,  on  slender  petioles,  aromatic,  bracts  and  upper 
leaves  whitish  or  the  color  of  flower. 

Preferred  Habitat — Open  woods,  thickets,  dry  rocky  hills. 

Flowering  Season — June — September. 

Distribution — Eastern  Canada  and  Maine,  westward  to  Minnesota, 
south  to  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

Half  a  dozen  different  shades  of  bloom  worn  by  this  hand- 
some, robust  perennial  afford  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  trials 
that  beset  one  who  would  arbitrarily  group  flowers  according  to 
color.  If  the  capricious  blossom  shows  a  decided  preference  for 
any  shade,  it  is  for  magenta,  the  royal  purple  of  the  ancients,  scarcely 
tolerated  now  except  by  Hoboken  Dutch  and  the  belles  of  the 
kitchen,  whose  Sunday  hats  are  resplendent  with  intense  effects. 

Only  a  few  bergamot  flowers  open  at  a  time  ;  the  rest  of  the 
slightly  rounded  head,  thickly  set  with  hairy  calices,  looks  as  if  it 
might  be  placed  in  a  glass  cup  and  make  an  excellent  penwiper. 
If  the  cultivated  human  eye  (and  stomach)  revolt  at  magenta,  it  is 
ever  a  favorite  shade  with  butterflies.  They  flutter  in  ecstasy 
over  the  gay  flowers  ;  indeed,  they  are  the  principal  visitors  and 
benefactors,  for  the  erect  corollas,  exposed  organs,  and  level-topped 

144 


Magenta  to  Pink 

heads  are  well  adapted  to  their  requirements.  That  exquisite 
little  feathered  jewel,  the  ruby-throated  humming-bird,  flashes 
about  the  bright  patches  an  instant,  and  is  gone  ;  but  he  too  has 
paid  for  his  feast  in  transferring  pollen.  Insects  which  land 
anywhere  they  please  on  the  flowers,  receive  pollen  on  various 
places,  just  as  in  the  case  of  the  scarlet  Oswego  tea,  of  similar 
formation.  Small  bees,  which  if  unable  to  drain  the  brimming 
tubes  of  nectar,  at  least  sip  from  them  and  help  themselves  to 
pollen  also,  without  paying  the  flower's  price  ;  and  certain  mis- 
chievous wasps,  forever  bent  on  nipping  holes  in  tubes  they  can- 
not honestly  drain,  give  a  score  of  other  pilferers  an  opportunity 
to  steal  sweets. 


Snake-head;    Turtle-head;    Balmony;   Shell- 
flower;    Cod-head 

(Chelone  glabra)  Figwort  family 

Flowers — White  tinged  with  pink,  or  all  white,  about  i  in.  long, 
growing  in  a  dense  terminal  cluster.  Calyx  ^-parted,  bracted 
at  base  ;  corolla  irregular,  broadly  tubular,  2-lipped  ;  upper 
lip  arched,  swollen,  slightly  notched  ;  lower  lip  3-lobed, 
spreading,  woolly  within  ;  5  stamens,  i  sterile,  4  in  pairs, 
anther-bearing,  woolly  ;  i  pistil.  Stem:  i  to  3  ft.  high, 
erect,  smooth,  simple,  leafy.  Leaves:  Opposite,  lance- 
shaped,  saw-edged. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Ditches,  beside  streams,  swamps. 

Flowering  Season — J  uly — September. 

Distribution — Newfoundland  to  Florida,  and  half  way  across  the 
continent. 

It  requires  something  of  a  struggle  for  even  so  strong  and 
vigorous  an  insect  as  the  bumblebee  to  gain  admission  to  this 
inhospitable-looking  flower  before  maturity  ;  and  even  he  aban- 
dons the  attempt  over  and  over  again  in  its  earliest  stage  before 
the  little  heart-shaped  anthers  are  prepared  to  dust  him  over.  As 
they  mature,  it  opens  slightly,  but  his  weight  alone  is  insufficient 
to  bend  down  the  stiff,  yet  elastic,  lower  lip.  Energetic  prying 
admits  first  his  head,  then  he  squeezes  his  body  through,  brush- 
ing past  the  stamens  as  he  finally  disappears  inside.  At  the 
moment  when  he  is  forcing  his  way  in,  causing  the  lower  lip  to 
spring  up  and  down,  the  eyeless  turtle  seems  to  chew  and  chew 
until  the  most  sedate  beholder  must  smile  at  the  paradoxical 
show.  Of  course  it  is  the  bee  that  is  feeding,  though  the  flower 
would  seem  to  be  masticating  the  bee  with  the  keenest  relish  ! 
The  counterfeit  tortoise  soon  disgorges  its  lively  mouthful,  how- 
ever, and  away  flies  the  bee,  carrying  pollen  on  his  velvety  back 
10  145 


Magenta  to  Pink 

to  rub  on  the  stigma  of  an  older  flower.  After  the  anthers  have 
shed  their  pollen  and  become  effete,  the  stigma  matures,  and 
occupies  their  place.  By  this  time  the  flower  presents  a  wider 
entrance,  and  as  the  moisture-loving  plant  keeps  the  nectaries 
abundantly  filled,  what  is  to  prevent  insects  too  small  to  come  in 
contact  with  anthers  and  stigma  in  the  roof  from  pilfering  to  their 
heart's  content?  The  woolly  throat  discourages  many,  to  be 
sure  ;  but  the  turtle-head,  like  its  cousins  the  beard-tongues,  has 
a  sterile  fifth  stamen,  whose  greatest  use  is  to  act  as  a  drop-bar 
across  the  base  of  the  flower.  The  long-tongued  bumblebee 
can  get  his  drink  over  the  bar,  but  smaller,  unwelcome  visitors 
are  literally  barred  out. 

If  bees  are  the  preferred  visitors  of  the  turtle-head,  why  do 
we  find  the  Baltimore  butterfly,  that  very  beautiful,  but  freaky, 
creature  (Melitaea  phaeton]  hovering  near  ? — that  is,  when  we  find 
it  at  all ;  for  where  it  is  present,  it  swarms,  and  keeps  away  from 
other  localities  altogether.  On  the  under  side  of  the  leaves  we 
shall  often  see  patches  of  its  crimson  eggs.  Later  the  caterpillars 
use  the  plant  as  their  main,  if  not  exclusive,  food  store.  They  are 
the  innocent  culprits  which  nine  times  out  of  ten  mutilate  the 
foliage.  (Illustration,  p.  92.) 

Large  Purple  Gerardia 

(Gerardia  purpurea)  Figwort  family 

Flowers — Bright  purplish  pink,  deep  magenta,  or  pale  to  whitish, 
about  i  in.  long  and  broad,  growing  along  the  rigid,  spread- 
ing branches.  Calyx  5-toothed  ;  corolla  funnel-form,  the 
tube  much  inflated  above  and  spreading  into  5  unequal, 
rounded  lobes,  spotted  within,  or  sometimes  downy;  4  sta- 
mens in  pairs,  the  filaments  hairy;  i  pistil.  Stem:  \  to  2>£ 
ft.  high,  slender,  branches  erector  spreading.  Leaves:  Oppo- 
site, very  narrow,  i  to  \}4  in.  long. 

Preferred  Habitat — Low  fields  and  meadows;  moist,  sandy  soil. 

Flowering  Season — August — October. 

Distribution — Northern  United  States  to  Florida,  chiefly  along  At- 
lantic coast. 

Low-lying  meadows  gay  with  gerardias  were  never  seen  by 
that  quaint  old  botanist  and  surgeon,  John  Gerarde,  author  of  the 
famous  "Herball  or  General  Historic  of  Plants,"  a  folio  of  nearly 
fourteen  hundred  pages,  published  in  London  toward  the  close  of 
Queen  Elizabeth's  reign.  He  died  without  knowing  how  much 
he  was  to  be  honored  by  Linnaeus  in  giving  his  name  to  this 
charming  American  genus. 

Large  patches  of  the  lavender-pink  gerardia,  peeping  above 
the  grass,  make  the  wayfarer  pause  to  feast  his  eyes,  while  the 

146 


Magenta  to  Pink 

/ 

practical  bee,  meanwhile,  takes  a  more  substantial  meal  within  the 
spreading  funnels.  It  is  his  practice  to  hang  upside  down  while 
sucking,  using  the  hairs  on  the  filaments  as  footholds.  Naturally 
he  receives  the  pollen  on  his  underside — just  where  it  will  be 
rubbed  off  against  the  stigma  impeding  his  entrance  to  the  next 
funnel  visited.  Any  of  the  very  dry  pollen  that  may  have  fallen 
on  the  hairy  filaments  drops  upon  him. 

"  And  'tis  my  faith  that  every  flower 
Enjoys  the  air  it  breathes," 

chanted  Wordsworth.  It  is  a  special  pity  to  gather  the  gerardias, 
which,  as  they  grow,  seem  to  enjoy  life  to  the  full,  and  when  picked, 
to  be  so  miserable  they  turn  black  as  they  dry.  Like  their  relatives 
the  foxgloves,  they  are  difficult  to  transplant,  because  it  is  said  they 
are  more  or  less  parasitic,  fastening  their  roots  on  those  of  other 
plants.  When  robbery  becomes  flagrant,  Nature  brands  sinners 
in  the  vegetable  kingdom  by  taking  away  their  color,  and  perhaps 
their  leaves,  as  in  the  case  of  the  broom-rape  and  Indian  pipe  ; 
but  the  fair  faces  of  the  gerardias  and  foxgloves  give  no  hint  of  the 
petty  thefts  committed  under  cover  of  darkness  in  the  soil  below. 

The  Small-flowered  Gerardia  (G.  paupercula),  so  like  the  pre- 
ceding species  it  was  once  thought  to  be  a  mere  variety,  ranges 
westward  as  far  as  Wisconsin,  especially  about  the  Great  Lakes. 
But  it  is  a  lower  plant,  with  more  erect  branches,  smaller  flowers, 
quite  woolly  within,  and  with  a  decided  preference  for  bogs  as 
well  as  low  meadows. 

In  salt  marshes  along  the  Atlantic  Coast  and  the  Gulf  of  Mex- 
ico, from  Maine  to  Louisiana,  the  Sea-side  Gerardia  (G.  tnaritimd) 
flowers  in  midsummer,  or  a  few  weeks  ahead  of  the  autumnal, 
upland  species.  The  plant,  which  rarely  exceeds  afoot  in  height, 
is  sometimes  only  four  inches  above  ground  ;  and  although  at 
the  North  the  paler  magenta  blossoms  are  only  about  half  the 
length  of  the  purple  gerardias,  in  the  South  they  are  sometimes 
quite  as  long. 

In  dry  woods  and  thickets,  on  banks  and  hills  from  Quebec 
to  Georgia,  and  westward  to  the  Mississippi  we  find  the  Slender 
Gerardia  (G.  tenuifolia),  its  pale  magenta,  spotted,  compressed 
corolla  about  half  an  inch  long;  its  very  slender,  low  stem  set  with 
exceedingly  narrow  leaves. 

Twin-flower;  Ground  Vine 

(Linncea  borealis)  Honeysuckle  family 

Flowers — Delicate  pink  or  white  tinged  with  rose,  bell-shaped, 
about  YZ  in.  long,  fragrant,  nodding  in  pairs  on  slender, 
curved  pedicels  from  an  erect  peduncle,  2-bracted  where  they 
join.  Calyx  5-toothed,  sticky  ;  corolla  5-lobed,  bell-shaped, 

H7 


Magenta  to  Pink 

hairy  within  ;  4  stamens  in  pairs  inserted  near  base  of  tube  ; 

i  pistil.     Stem:  Trailing,  6  in.  to  2  ft.  long  ;  the  branches 

erect.     Leaves :  Opposite,  rounded,  petioled,  evergreen. 
Preferred  Habitat — Deep,  cool,  mossy  woods. 
Flowering  Season — May — July. 
Distribution — Northern  parts  of  America,  Europe,  and  Asia.     In  the 

United  States  southward  as  far  as  the  mountains  of  Maryland, 

and  the  Sierra  Nevadas  in  California. 

With  the  consent  of  modest  Linnaeus  himself,  Dr.  Gronovius 
selected  this  typical  woodland  blossom  to  transmit  the  great 
master's  name  to  posterity — 

"  Monument  of  the  man  of  flowers." 

But  small  and  shy  as  it  is,  does  Nature's  garden  contain  a  love- 
lier sight  than  scores  of  these  deliciously  fragrant  pink  bells  sway- 
ing above  a  carpet  of  the  little  evergreen  leaves  in  the  dim  aisle 
of  some  deep,  cool,  lonely  forest  ?  Trailing  over  prostrate  logs 
and  mossy  rocks,  racing  with  the  partridge  vine  among  the  ferns 
and  dwarf  cornels,  the  plant  sends  up  "twin-born  heads"  that 
seem  more  fair  and  sweet  than  the  most  showy  pampered  dar- 
lings of  the  millionaire's  conservatory.  Little  wonder  that  Lin- 
naeus loved  these  little  twin  sisters,  or  that  Emerson  enshrined 
them  in  his  verse. 

Contrary  to  popular  impression,  this  vine,  that  suggests  the 
dim  old  forest  and  exhales  the  very  breath  of  the  spring  woods,  will 
consent  to  run  about  our  rock  gardens,  although  it  seems  almost 
a  sacrilege  to  move  it  from  natural  surroundings  so  impressively 
beautiful.  Unlike  the  arbutus,  which  remains  ever  a  wildling, 
pining  slowly  to  death  on  close  contact  with  civilization,  the 
twin-flower  thrives  in  light,  moist  garden  soil  where  the  sun  peeps 
for  a  little  while  only  in  the  morning.  By  nodding  its  head  the 
flower  protects  its  precious  contents  from  rain,  the  hairs  inside 
exclude  small  pilferers  ;  but  bees,  attracted  by  the  fragrance  and 
color,  are  guided  to  the  nectary  by  five  dark  lines  and  a  patch  of 
orange  color  near  it. 

Joe-Pye  Weed;  Trumpet  Weed  ;  Purple  Thor- 
oughwort;  Gravel  or  Kidney-root;  Tall  or 
Purple  Boneset 

(Eupatorium  purpureum)  Thistle  family 

Flower-heads — Pale  or  dull  magenta  or  lavender  pink,  slightly  fra- 
grant, of  tubular  florets  only,  very  numerous,  in  large,  terminal, 
loose,  compound  clusters,  generally  elongated.  Several 
series  of  pink  overlapping  bracts  form  the  oblong  involucre 
from  which  the  tubular  floret  and  its  protruding  fringe  of 
148 


Magenta  to  Pink 

style-branches  arise.  Stem:  3  to  10  ft.  high,  green  or  pur- 
plish, leafy,  usually  branching  toward  top.  Leaves:  In 
whorls  of  3  to  6  (usually  4),  oval  to  lance-shaped,  saw-edged, 
petioled,  thin,  rough. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Moist  soil,  meadows,  woods,  low  ground. 

Flowering  Season — August — September. 

Distribution — New  Brunswick  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  westward  to 
Manitoba  and  Texas. 

Towering  above  the  surrounding  vegetation  of  low-lying 
meadows,  this  vigorous  composite  spreads  clusters  of  soft,  fnngy 
bloom  that,  however  deep  or  pale  of  tint,  are  ever  conspicuous 
advertisements,  even  when  the  golden-rods,  sunflowers,  and 
asters  enter  into  close  competition  for  insect  trade.  Slight  frag- 
rance, which  to  the  delicate  perception  of  butterflies  is  doubtless 
heavy  enough,  the  florets'  color  and  slender  tubular  form  indicate 
an  adaptation  to  them,  and  they  are  by  far  the  most  abundant 
visitors,  which  is  not  to  say  that  long-tongued  bees  and  flies 
never  reach  the  nectar  and  transfer  pollen,  for  they  do.  But  an 
excellent  place  for  the  butterfly  collector  to  carry  his  net  is  to  a 
patch  of  Joe-Pye  weed  in  September.  As  the  spreading  style- 
branches  that  fringe  each  tiny  floret  are  furnished  with  hairs  for 
three-quarters  of  their  length,  the  pollen  caught  in  them  comes 
in  contact  with  the  alighting  visitor.  Later,  the  lower  portion  of 
the  style-branches,  that  is  covered  with  stigmatic  papillae  along 
the  edge,  emerges  from  the  tube  to  receive  pollen  carried  from 
younger  flowers  when  the  visitor  sips  his  reward.  If  the  hairs 
still  contain  pollen  when  the  stigmatic  part  of  the  style  is  exposed, 
insects  self-fertilize  the  flower  ;  and  if  in  stormy  weather  no 
insects  are  flying,  the  flower  is  nevertheless  able  to  fertilize  itself, 
because  the  hairy  fringe  must  often  come  in  contact  with  the 
stigmas  of  neighboring  florets.  It  is  only  when  we  study  flowers 
with  reference  to  their  motives  and  methods  that  we  understand 
why  one  is  abundant  and  another  rare.  Composites  long  ago 
utilized  many  principles  of  success  in  life  that  the  triumphant 
Anglo-Saxon  carries  into  larger  affairs  to-day. 

Joe-Pye,  an  Indian  medicine-man  of  New  England,  earned 
fame  and  fortune  by  curing  typhus  fever  and  other  horrors  with 
decoctions  made  from  this  plant.  (Illustration,  p.  138.) 

Common      Burdock;      Cockle-bur;     Beggar's 
Buttons;  Clot-bur;  Cuckoo  Button 

(Arctium  minus)  Thistle  family 
(Lappa  ojficinalis :  var.  minor  of  Gray) 

Flower-heads — Composite  of  tubular  florets  only,  about  YZ  in.  broad ; 
magenta  varying  to  purplish  or  white  ;  the  prominent  round 
149 


Magenta  to  Pink 

involucre  of  many  overlapping  leathery  bracts,  tipped  with 
hooked  bristles.  Stem :  2  to  5  ft.  high,  simple  or  branching, 
coarse.  Leaves:  Large,  the  lower  ones  often  i  ft.  long, 
broadly  ovate,  entire  edged,  pale  or  loosely  cottony  beneath, 
on  hollow  petioles. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Waste  ground,  waysides,  fields,  barnyards. 

Flowering  Season — July — October. 

Distribution — Common  throughout  our  area.  Naturalized  from 
Europe. 

A  larger  burdock  than  this  {A.  Lappa)  maybe  more  common 
in  a  few  localities  East,  but  wherever  one  wanders,  this  plebeian 
boldly  asserts  itself.  In  close-cropped  pastures  it  still  flourishes 
with  the  well-armed  thistles  and  mulleins,  for  the  great  leaves 
contain  an  exceedingly  bitter,  sour  juice,  distasteful  to  grazers. 
Nevertheless  the  unpaid  cattle,  like  every  other  beast  and  man, 
must  nolens  nolens  transplant  the  burs  far  away  from  the  parent 
plant  to  found  new  colonies.  Literally  by  hook  or  by  crook  they 
steal  a  ride  on  every  switching  tail,  every  hairy  dog  and  woolly 
sheep,  every  trouser-leg  or  petticoat.  Even  the  children,  who 
make  dolls  and  baskets  of  burdock  burs,  aid  them  in  their  insati- 
ate love  of  travel.  Wherever  man  goes,  they  follow,  until,  having 
crossed  Europe — with  the  Romans  ? — they  are  now  at  home 
throughout  this  continent.  Their  vitality  is  amazing  ;  persecu- 
tion with  scythe  and  plow  may  retard,  but  never  check  their  vic- 
torious march.  Opportunity  for  a  seed  to  germinate  may  not 
come  until  late  in  the  summer  ;  but  at  once  the  plant  sets  to  work 
putting  forth  flowers  and  maturing  seed,  losing  no  time  in  de- 
veloping superfluous  stalk  and  branches.  Butterflies,  which,  like 
the  Hoboken  Dutch,  ever  delight  in  magenta,  and  bees  of  various 
kinds,  find  these  flowers,  with  a  slight  fragrance  as  an  additional 
attraction,  generous  entertainers. 


Pink,  of  all  colors,  is  the  most  unstable  in  our  flora,  and  the  most 
likely  to  fade.  Magentas  incline  to  purple,  on  the  one  hand,  or  to  pure 
pink  on  the  other,  and  delicate  shades  quickly  blanch  when  long  exposed  to 
the  sun's  rays.  Thus  we  frequently  find  white  blossoms  of  the  once  pink 
rhododendron,  laurel,  azalea,  bouncing  Bet,  and  turtle-head.  Albinos, 
too,  regularly  occur  in  numerous  species.  Many  colored  flowers  show  a 
tendency  among  individuals  to  revert  to  the  white  type  of  their  ancestors. 
The  reader  should  bear  these  facts  in  mind,  and  search  for  his  unidentified 
flower  in  the  previous  section  or  in  the  following  one  if  this  group  does 
not  contain  it. 


150 


WHITE  AND   GREENISH  FLOWERS 


"  The  transition  from  wind-fertilization  to  insect-fertilization  and 
the  first  traces  of  adaptation  to  insects ;  could  only  be  due  to  the  influence 
of  quite  short-lipped  insects  with  feebly  developed  color  sense.  The  most 
primitive  flowers  are  therefore  for  the  most  part  simple,  widely  open,  reg- 
ular, devoid  of  nectar  or  with  their  nectar  unconcealed  and  easily  accessible, 
and  greenish,  white,  or  yellow  in  color.  .  .  .  Lepidoptera,  by  the 
thinness,  sometimes  by  the  length,  of  their  tongues,  were  able  to  produce 
special  modifications.  Through  their  agency  were  developed  flowers  with 
long  and  narrow  tubes,  whose  colors  and  time  of  opening  were  in  relation 
to  the  tastes  and  habits  of  their  visitors" — HERMANN  MCJLLER. 

' '  Of  all  colors,  white  is  the  prevailing  one  ;  and  of  white  flowers  a 
considerably  larger  proportion  smell  sweetly  than  of  any  other  color, 
namely,  14.6 per  cent.  ;  of  red  only  8.2 per  cent,  are  odoriferous.  The 
fact  of  a  large  proportion  of  white  flowers  smelling  sweetly  may  depend  in 
part  on  those  which  are  fertilized  by  moths  requiring  the  double  aid  of  con- 
spicuousness  in  the  dusk  and  of  odor.  So  great  is  the  economy  of  Nature, 
that  most  flowers  which  are  fertilized  by  crepuscular  or  nocturnal  insects 
emit  their  odor  chiefly  or  exclusively  in  the  evening. '  * — CHARLES  DARWIN. 


WHITE  AND  GREENISH   FLOWERS 

Water-Plantain 

(Alisma  Plantago-aquatica]  Water-plantain  family 

Flowers — Very  small  and  numerous,  white,  or  pale  pink,  whorled 
in  bracted  clusters  forming  a  large,  loose  panicle  6  to  1 5  in. 
long  on  a  usually  solitary  scape  y2  to  3  ft.  high.  Calyx  of  3 
sepals  ;  corolla  of  3  deciduous  petals  ;  6  or  more  stamens  ; 
many  carpels  in  a  ring  on  a  small  flat  receptacle.  Leaves: 
Erect  or  floating,  oblong  or  ovate,  with  several  ribs,  or  lance- 
shaped  or  grass-like,  petioled,  all  from  root. 

Perferred  Habitat — Shallow  water,  mud,  marshes. 

Flowering  Season — June — September. 

Distribution — North  America,  Europe,  Asia. 

Unlike  its  far  more  showy,  decorative  cousin  the  arrow-head, 
this  wee-blossomed  plant,  whose  misty  white  panicles  rise  with 
compensating  generosity  the  world  around,  bears  only  perfect, 
regular  flowers.  Twelve  infinitesimal  drops  of  nectar,  secreted  in 
a  fleshy  ring  around  the  centre,  are  eagerly  sought  by  flies.  As 
the  anthers  point  obliquely  outward  and  away  from  the  stigmas, 
an  incoming  fly,  bearing  pollen  on  his  under  side,  usually  alights 
in  the  centre,  and  leaves  some  of  the  vitalizing  dust  just  where  it  is 
most  needed.  But  a  "fly  starting  from  a  petal,"  says  Muller, 
"usually  applies  its  tongue  to  the  nectar-drops  one  by  one,  and 
after  each  it  strokes  an  anther  with  its  labellae  ;  in  so  doing  it  may 
bring  various  parts  of  its  body  in  contact  with  the  anthers.  As  a 
rule,  however,  the  parts  which  come  in  contact  with  the  anthers 
are  not  those  which  come  in  contact  with  the  stigmas  in  the  same 
flower."  Any  plant  that  lives  in  shallow  water,  which  may  dry 
up  as  summer  advances,  is  under  special  necessity  to  produce  an 
extra  quantity  of  cross-fertilized  seed  to  guard  against  extinction 
during  drought.  For  the  same  reason  it  bears  several  kinds  of 
leaves  adapted  to  its  environment  :  broad  ones  that  spread  their 
surfaces  to  the  sunshine,  and  long  grass-like  ones  to  glide  through 
currents  of  water  that  would  tear  those  of  any  other  shape  (see  p. 
155).  What  diversity  of  leaf-form  and  structure  we  meet  daily, 
and  yet  how  very  little  does  the  wisest  man  of  science  understand 
of  the  reasons  underlying  such  marvellous  adaptability  ! 

153 


White  and  Greenish 

Broad-leaved  Arrow-head 

(Sagittaria  latifolia)  Water-plantain  family 
(S,  variabilis  of  Gray) 

Flowers — White,  i  to  i  y2  in.  wide,  in  ^-bracted  whorls  of  3,  borne 
near  the  summit  of  a  leafless  scape  4  in.  to  4  ft.  tall.  Calyx 
of  3  sepals  ;  corolla  of  3  rounded,  spreading  petals.  Stamens 
and  pistils  numerous,  the  former  yellow  in  upper  flowers  ; 
usually  absent  or  imperfect  in  lower  pistillate  flowers.  Leaves: 
Exceedingly  variable  ;  those  under  water  usually  long  and 
grasslike  ;  upper  ones  sharply  arrow-shaped  or  blunt  and 
broad,  spongy  or  leathery,  on  long  petioles. 

Preferred  Habitat — Shallow  water  and  mud. 

Flowering  Season — July — September. 

Distribution — From  Mexico  northward  throughout  our  area  to  the 
circumpolar  regions. 

Wading  into  shallow  water  or  standing  on  some  muddy  shore, 
like  a  heron,  this  striking  plant,  so  often  found  in  that  bird's  haunts, 
is  quite  as  decorative  in  a  picture,  and,  happily,  far  more  approach- 
able in  life.  Indeed,  one  of  the  comforts  of  botany  as  compared 
with  bird  study  is  that  we  may  get  close  enough  to  the  flowers  to 
observe  their  last  detail,  whereas  the  bird  we  have  followed  labori- 
ously over  hill  and  dale,  through  briers  and  swamps,  darts  away 
beyond  the  range  of  field-glasses  with  tantalizing  swiftness. 

While  no  single  plant  is  yet  thoroughly  known  to  scientists, 
in  spite  of  the  years  of  study  devoted  by  specialists  to  separate 
groups,  no  plant  remains  wholly  meaningless.  When  Keppler 
discovered  the  majestic  order  of  movement  of  the  heavenly  bodies, 
he  exclaimed,  "Oh  God,  I  think  Thy  thoughts  after  Thee  !  " — the 
expression  of  a  discipleship  every  reverent  soul  must  be  conscious 
of  in  penetrating,  be  it  ever  so  little  a  way,  into  the  inner  meaning 
of  the  humblest  wayside  weed. 

Fragile,  delicate,  pure  white,  golden-centred  flowers  of  the 
arrow-head,  usually  clustered  about  the  top  of  the  scape,  naturally 
are  the  first  to  attract  the  attention  whether  of  man  or  insect.  Be- 
low these,  dull  green,  unattractive  collections  of  pistils,  which  by 
courtesy  only  may  be  called  flowers,  also  form  little  groups  of 
three.  Like  the  Quakers  at  meeting,  the  male  and  female  arrow- 
head flowers  are  separated,  often  on  distinct  plants.  Of  course 
the  insect  visitors — bees  and  flies  chiefly — alight  on  the  showy 
staminate  blossoms  first,  and  transfer  pollen  from  them  to  the  dull 
pistillate  ones  later,  as  it  was  intended  they  should,  to  prevent  self- 
fertilization.  How  endless  are  the  devices  of  the  flowers  to  guard 
against  this  evil  and  to  compel  insects  to  cross-pollinate  them  ! 
The  most  minute  detail  of  the  mechanism  involved,  which  the 
microscope  reveals,  only  increases  our  interest  and  wonder. 

J54 


White  and  Greenish 

Any  plant  which  elects  to  grow  In  shallow  water  must  be  am- 
phibious ;  it  must  be  able  to  breathe  beneath  the  surface  as  the  fish 
do,  and  also  be  adapted  to  thrive  without  those  parts  that  corre- 
spond to  gills  ;  for  ponds  and  streams  have  an  unpleasant  way  of 
drying  up  in  summer,  leaving  it  stranded  on  the  shore.  This  ac- 
counts in  part  for  the  variable  leaves  on  the  arrow-head,  those 
underneath  the  water  being  long  and  ribbon-like,  to  bring  the 
greatest  possible  area  into  contact  with  the  air  with  which  the 
water  is  charged.  Broad  leaves  would  be  torn  to  shreds  by  the 
current  through  which  grass-like  blades  glide  harmlessly  ;  but 
when  this  plant  grows  on  shore,  having  no  longer  use  for  its  lower 
ribbons,  it  loses  them,  and  expands  only  broad  arrow-shaped  sur- 
faces to  the  sunny  air,  leaves  to  be  supplied  with  carbonic  acid  to 
assimilate,  and  sunshine  to  turn  off,  the  oxygen  and  store  up  the 
carbon  into  their  system. 


Water  Arum;  Marsh  Calla 

(Calla  pahistris)  Arum  family 

Flowers— Minute,  greenish  yellow,  clustered  on  a  cylinder-like, 
fleshy  spadix  about  i  in.  long,  partly  enfolded  by  a  large, 
white,  oval,  pointed,  erect  spathe,  the  whole  resembling  a 
small  calla  lily  open  in  front.  The  solitary  u flower"  on  a 
scape  as  long  as  the  petioles  of  leaves,  and,  like  them,  sheathed 
at  base.  Leaves ;  Thick,  somewhat  heart-shaped,  their  spread- 
ing or  erect  petioles  4  to  8  in.  long.  Fruit:  Red  berries  clus- 
tered in  a  head. 

Preferred  Habitat^&QQ\  Northern  bogs  ;  in  or  beside  sluggish 
water. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution^ -Nova  Scotia  southward  to  Virginia,  westward  to 
Minnesota  and  Iowa. 

At  a  glance  one  knows  this  beautiful  denizen  of  Northern  bogs 
and  ditches  to  be  a  poor  relation  of  the  stately  Ethiopian  calla  lily 
of  our  greenhouses.  Where  the  arum  grows  in  rich,  cool  retreats, 
it  is  apt  to  be  abundant,  its  slender  rootstocks  running  hither  and 
thither  through  the  yielding  soil  with  thrifty  rapidity  until  the  place 
is  carpeted  with  its  handsome  dark  leaves,  from  which  the  pure 
white  "flowers"  arise  ;  and  yet  many  flower  lovers  well  up  in 
field  practice  know  it  not.  Thoreau,  for  example,  was  no  longer 
young  when  he  first  saw,  or,  rather,  noticed  it.  "  Having  found 
this  in  one  place,"  he  wrote,  "  I  now  find  it  in  another.  Many  an 
object  is  not  seen,  though  it  falls  within  the  range  of  our  visual 
ray,  because  it  does  not  come  within  the  range  of  our  intellectual 
ray.  So,  in  the  largest  sense,  we  find  only  the  world  we  look  for." 


White  and  Greenish 

Now,  the  true  flowers  of  the  arum  and  all  its  spadix-bearing 
kin  are  so  minute  that  one  scarcely  notices  them  where  they  are 
clustered  on  the  club-shaped  column  in  the  centre  of  the  apparent 
"flower."  The  beautiful  white  banner  of  the  marsh  calla,  or  the 
green  and  maroon  striped  pulpit  from  which  Jack  preaches,  is  no 
more  the  flower  proper  than  the  papery  sheath  below  the  daffodil 
is  the  daffodil.  In  the  arum  the  white  advertisement  flaunted  before 
flying  insects  is  not  even  essential  to  the  florets'  existence,  except 
as  it  helps  them  attract  their  pollen-carrying  friends.  Almost  all 
waterside  plants,  it  will  be  noticed,  depend  chiefly  upon  flies  and 
midges,  and  these  lack  aesthetic  taste.  "  Such  plants  have  usually 
acquired  small  and  inconspicuous  separate  flowers,"  says  Grant 
Allen  ;  "and  then,  to  make  up  for  their  loss  in  attractiveness,  like 
cheap  sweetmeats,  they  have  very  largely  increased  their  num- 
bers. Or,  to  put  the  matter  more  simply  and  physically,  in 
waterside  situations  those  plants  succeed  best  which  have  a  rela- 
tively large  number  of  individually  small  and  unnoticeable  flowers 
massed  together  into  large  and  closely  serried  bundles.  Hence, 
in  such  situations,  there  is  a  tendency  for  petals  to  be  suppressed, 
and  for  blossoms  to  grow  minute  ;  because  the  large  and  bright 
flowers  seldom  succeed  in  attracting  big  land  insects  like  bees  or 
butterflies,  while  the  small  and  thick-set  ones  usually  do  succeed 
in  attracting  a  great  many  little  flitting  midges."  Flies,  which  are 
guided  far  more  by  their  sense  of  smell  than  by  sight,  resort  to 
the  petalless,  insignificant  florets  of  the  ill-scented  marsh  calla  in 
numbers  ;  and  as  the  uppermost  clusters  are  staminate  only,  while 
the  lower  florets  contain  stamens  and  pistil,  it  follows  they  must 
often  effect  cross-pollination  as  they  crawl  over  the  spadix.  But 
here  is  no  trap  to  catch  the  tiny  benefactors  such  as  is  set  by  wicked 
Jack-in-the-pulpit,  or  the  skunk-cabbage,  or  another  cousin,  a  still 
more  terrible  executioner,  the  cuckoo-pint  (Arum  maculatum)  of 
Europe. 

Few  coroner's  inquests  are  held  over  the  dead  bodies  of  our 
feathered  friends  ;  and  it  is  not  known  whether  the  innocent-look- 
ing marsh  calla  really  poisons  the  birds  on  which  it  depends  to 
carry  its  bright  seeds  afar  or  not.  The  cuckoo-pint,  as  is  well 
known,  destroys  the  winged  messenger  bearing  its  offspring  to 
plant  fresh  colonies  in  a  distant  bog,  because  the  decayed  body  of 
the  bird  acts  as  the  best  possible  fertilizer  into  which  the  seedling 
may  strike  its  roots.  Most  of  our  noxious  weeds,  like  our  vermin, 
have  come  to  us  from  Europe  ;  but  Heaven  deliver  us  from  this 
cannibalistic  pest  ! 

The  very  common  Green  Arrow-arum  (Peltandra  Virginica), 
found  in  shallow  water,  ditches,  swamps,  and  the  muddy  shores  of 
ponds  throughout  the  eastern  half  of  the  United  States,  attracts  us 
more  by  its  stately  growth  and  the  beauty  of  its  bright,  lustrous 
green  arrow-shaped  leaves  (which  have  been  found  thirty  inches 

156 


White  and  Greenish 

long),  than  by  the  insignificant  florets  clustered  on  the  spadix 
within  a  long  pointed  green  sheath  that  closely  enfolds  it.  Pistil- 
late florets  cover  it  for  only  about  one-fourth  its  length.  To  them 
flies  carry  pollen  from  the  staminate  florets  covering  the  rest  of  the 
spadix.  After  the  club  is  set  with  green  berries — green,  for  this 
plant  has  no  need  to  attract  birds  with  bright  red  ones — the  flower 
stalk  curves,  bends  downward,  and  the  pointed  leathery  sheath 
acting  as  an  auger,  it  bores  a  hole  into  the  soft  mud  in  which  the 
seeds  germinate  with  the  help  of  their  surrounding  jelly  as  a  fer- 
tilizer. 

American    White     Hellebore;     Indian    Poke; 
Itch-weed 

(yeratrum  -viride)  Bunch-flower  family 

Flowers — Dingy,  pale  yellowish  or  whitish  green,  growing  greener 
with  age,  i  in.  or  less  across,  very  numerous,  in  stiff-branch- 
ing, spike-like,  dense-flowered  panicles.  Perianth  of  6  oblong 
segments ;  6  short  curved  stamens ;  3  styles.  Stem  :  Stout, 
leafy,  2  to  8  ft.  tall.  Leaves :  Plaited,  lower  ones  broadly 
oval,  pointed,  6  to  12  in.  long;  parallel  ribbed,  sheathing  the 
stem  where  they  clasp  it;  upper  leaves  gradually  narrowing; 
those  among  flowers  small. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Swamps,  wet  woods,  low  meadows. 

Flowering^  Season — May — July. 

Distribution — British  Possessions  from  ocean  to  ocean ;  southward 
in  the  United  States  to  Georgia,  Tennessee,  and  Minnesota. 

' '  Borage  and  hellebore  fill  two  scenes — 
Sovereign  plants  to  purge  the  veins 
Of  melancholy,  and  cheer  the  heart 
Of  those  black  fumes  which  make  it  smart." 

Such  are  the  antidotes  for  madness  prescribed  by  Burton  in  his 
"  Anatomic  of  Melancholy."  But  like  most  medicines,  so  the  ho- 
moeopaths have  taught  us,  the  plant  that  heals  may  also  poison ;  and 
the  coarse,  thick  rootstock  of  this  hellebore  sometimes  does  deadly 
work.  The  shining  plaited  leaves,  put  forth  so  early  in  the  spring 
they  are  especially  tempting  to  grazing  cattle  on  that  account, 
are  too  well  known  by  most  animals,  however,  to  be  touched  by 
them — precisely  the  end  desired,  of  course,  by  the  hellebore,  night- 
shade, aconite,  cyclamen,  Jamestown  weed,  and  a  host  of  others 
that  resort,  for  protection,  to  the  low  trick  of  mixing  poisonous 
chemicals  with  their  cellular  juices.  Pliny  told  how  the  horses, 
oxen,  and  swine  of  his  day  were  killed  by  eating  the  foliage  of 
the  black  hellebore.  Flies,  which  visit  the  dirty,  yellowish-green 
flowers  in  abundance,  must  cross-fertilize  them,  as  the  anthers 
mature  before  the  stigmas  are  ready  to  receive  pollen.  Apparently 


White  and  Greenish 

the  visitors  suffer  no  ill  effects  from  the  nectar.  We  have  j'ust 
seen  how  the  green  arrow-arum  bores  a  hole  in  the  mud  and  plants 
its  own  seeds  in  autumn.  The  hellebore  uses  its  auger  in  the 
spring,  when  we  find  the  stout,  shining,  solid  tool  above  ground 
with  the  early  skunk-cabbage. 

Star  of  Bethlehem  ;  Ten  O'Clock 

(Ornithogalum  umbellatum)  Lily  family 

Flowers — Opening  in  the  sunshine,  white  within,  greenish  on  the 
outside,  veined,  borne  on  slender  pedicels  in  an  erect,  loose 
cluster.  Perianth  of  6  narrowly  oblong  divisions,  /^  in.  long 
or  over,  or  about  twice  as  long  as  the  flattened  stamens;  style 
•short,  3-sided.  Scape:  Slender,  4 to  12 in.  high,  with  narrow, 
blade-like  bracts  above.  Leaves:  Narrow,  grass-like,  with 
white  midvein,  fleshy,  all  from  coated,  egg-shaped  bulb. 

Preferred  Habitat — Moist,  grassy  meadows,  old  lawns. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution — Escaped  from  gardens  from  Massachusetts  to  Vir- 
ginia. 

The  finding  of  these  exquisite  little  flowers,  growing  wild 
among  the  lush  grass  of  a  meadow  not  far  from  some  old  home- 
stead where  their  ancestors,  with  crocuses  and  grape  hyacinths, 
once  brightened  the  lawn  in  early  spring,  makes  one  long  to  start 
a  Parkinson  Society  instantly.  Some  school  children  not  far  from 
New  York,  receiving  their  inspiration  from  Mrs.  E wing's  little 
book,  "Mary's  Meadow,"  have  spread  the  gospel  of  beauty,  like 
the  true  missionaries  they  are,  by  systematically  planting  in  lanes 
and  fields  sweet  violets,  golden  coreopsis,  hardy  poppies,  blue 
corn-flowers,  Japanese  roses,  orange  day-lilies,  larkspurs,  and 
many  other  charming  garden  flowers  that  need  only  the  slightest 
encouragement  to  run  wild.  Immense  quantities  of  seed,  that  go  to 
loss  in  every  garden,  might  so  easily  be  sprinkled  at  large  on  our 
walks.  Nearly  all  the  beautiful  hardy  perennials  cultivated  here 
grow  in  Nature's  garden  in  Europe  or  Asia,  and  will  do  so  in  Amer- 
ica if  they  are  but  given  the  chance.  The  Star  of  Bethlehem  is  a 
case  in  point.  Several  members  of  the  large  group  of  charming 
spring  flowers  to  which  it  belongs  grow  in  such  abundance  in  the 
Old  World  that  for  centuries  the  bulbs  have  furnished  food  to  the 
omnivorous  Italian  and  Asiatic  peasants.  If  we  cannot  spare  offsets 
from  the  garden,  and  will  wait  a  few  years  for  seeds  to  bear,  the 
rich,  light  loam  of  our  grassy  meadows,  too,  will  be  streaked  with 
a  Milky  Way  of  floral  stars,  as  they  are  in  Italy. 

The  Greek  generic  name  of  the  Star  of  Bethlehem,  meaning 
"bird's  milk"  (a  popular  folk  expression  in  Europe  for  some  mar- 
vellous thing)  was  applied  by  Linnaeus  because  of  the  flower's 

158 


White  and  Greenish 

likeness  to  the  wonderful  star  in  the  East  which  guided  the  Wise 
Men  to  the  manger  where  Jesus  lay. 

Star-grass ;  Colic-root 

(Aletris  farinosa)  Lily  family 

/frawj— Small,  oblong-tubular,  pure  white  or  yellowish,  about 
X  in.  long,  set  obliquely  in  a  long,  wand-like,  spiked  raceme, 
at  the  end  of  a  slender  scape  2  to  3  ft.  tall.  Perianth  some- 
what bell-shaped,  6-pointed,  rough  or  mealy  outside  ;  6  sta- 
mens, i  inserted  below  each  point  ;  style  3-cleft  at  tip.  (A 
Southern  form  or  distinct  species  (?)  has  yellower,  fragrant 
flowers.)  Leaves:  From  the  base,  lance-shaped,  2  to  6  in. 
long,  thin,  pale  yellowish  green,  in  a  spreading  cluster. 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry  soil ;  roadsides ;  open,  grassy,  sandy  woods. 

Flowering  Season — May — July. 

Distribution — From  Ontario  and  the  Mississippi  eastward  to  the 
Atlantic. 

Herb  gatherers  have  searched  far  and  wide  for  this  plant's 
bitter,  fibrous  root,  because  of  its  supposed  medicinal  virtues. 
What  decoctions  have  not  men  swallowed  from  babyhood  to  old 
age  to  get  relief  from  griping  colic  !  In  partial  shade,  colonies  of 
the  tufted  yellow-green  leaves  send  up  from  the  centre  gradually 
lengthening  spikes  of  bloom  that  may  finally  attain  over  a  foot  in 
length.  The  plant  is  not  unknown  in  borders  of  men's  gardens. 
The  Greek  word  (aletron  =  meal)  from  which  its  generic  title  is 
derived,  refers  to  the  rough,  granular  surface  of  the  little  oblong 
white  flower. 


Wild  Spikenard;  False  Solomon's  Seal;  Solo- 
mon's Zig-zag 

(Vagnera  racemosa)  Lily-of-the- Valley  family 
(Smilacina  racemosa  of  Gray) 

Flowers — White  or  greenish,  small,  slightly  fragrant,  in  a  densely 
flowered  terminal  raceme.  Perianth  of  6  separate,  spreading 
segments  ;  6  stamens;  I  pistil  Stem:  Simple,  somewhat 
angled,  i  to  3  ft.  high,  scaly  below,  leafy,  and  sometimes 
finely  hairy  above.  Leaves :  Alternate  and  seated  along  stem, 
oblong,  lance-shaped,  3  to  6  in.  long,  finely  hairy  beneath. 
Rootslock :  Thick,  fleshy*  Fruit:  A  cluster  of  aromatic, 
round,  pale  red  speckled  berries. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Moist  woods,  thickets,  hillsides. 

Flowering  Season — May — July. 


White  and  Greenish 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Georgia  ;  westward  to  Arizona  and 
British  Columbia. 

As  if  to  offer  opportunities  for  comparison  to  the  confused 
novice,  the  true  Solomon's  seal  and  the  so-called  false  species — 
quite  as  honest  a  plant — usually  grow  near  each  other.  Grace  of 
line,  rather  than  beauty  of  blossom,  gives  them  both  their  chief 
charm.  But  the  feathery  plume  of  greenish-white  blossoms  that 
crowns  the  false  Solomon's  seal's  somewhat  zig-zagged  stem  is 
very  different  from  the  small,  greenish,  bell-shaped  flowers,  usually 
nodding  in  pairs  along  the  stem,  under  the  leaves,  from  the  axils 
of  the  true  Solomon's  seal.  Later  in  summer,  when  hungry 
birds  wander  through  the  woods  with  increased  families,  the  wild 
spikenard  offers  them  branching  clusters  of  pale  red  speckled 
berries,  whereas  the  latter  plant  feasts  them  with  blue-black  fruit, 
in  the  hope  that  they  will  drop  the  seeds  miles  away. 

By  clustering  its  small,  slightly  fragrant  flowers  at  the  end  of 
its  stem,  the  wild  spikenard  offers  a  more  taking  advertisement  to 
its  insect  friends  than  its  cousin  can  show.  A  few  flies  and  beetles 
visit  them ;  but  apparently  the  less  specialized  bees,  chiefly  those 
of  the  Halictus  tribe,  which  predominate  in  May,  are  the  principal 
guests.  These  alight  in  the  centre  of  the  widely  expanded  blos- 
soms set  on  the  upper  side  of  the  branching  raceme  so  as  to  make 
their  nectar  and  pollen  easily  accessible;  and  as  the  newly  opened 
flower  has  its  stigma  already  receptive  to  pollen  brought  to  it 
while  its  own  anthers  are  closed,  it  follows  the  plant  is  dependent 
upon  the  bees'  help,  as  well  as  the  birds',  to  perpetuate  itself. 

The  Star-flowered  Solomon's  Seal  (K.  stellata),  found  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  from  Newfoundland  as  far  south  as 
Kansas,  has  larger,  but  fewer,  flowers  than  the  wild  spikenard,  at 
the  end  of  its  erect,  low-growing  stem.  Where  the  two  species 
grow  together — and  they  often  do — it  will  be  noticed  that  the 
star-flowered  one  frequently  forms  colonies  on  rich,  moist  banks, 
its  leaves  partly  clasp  the  stem,  and  its  berries,  which  may  be  en- 
tirely black,  are  more  frequently  green,  with  six  black  stripes. 

The  Two-leaved  Solomon's  Seal,  or  False  Lily-of-the- Valley 
(Unifolium  Canadense),  very  common  in  moist  woods  and  thick- 
ets North  and  West,  is  a  curious  little  plant,  sometimes  with  only 
a  solitary,  long-petioled  leaf;  but  where  many  of  these  sterile 
plants  grow  together,  forming  shining  beds.  Other  individuals 
lift  a  white-flowered  raceme  six  inches  above  the  ground ;  and  on 
the  slender,  often  zig-zagged  flowering  stem  there  may  be  one  to 
three,  but  usually  two,  ovate  leaves,  pointed  at  the  apex,  heart- 
shaped  at  the  base,  either  seated  on  it,  one  above  the  other,  or 
standing  out  from  it  on  distinct  but  short  petioles.  This  flower 
has  only  four  segments  and  four  stamens.  Like  the  wild  spike- 
nard, the  little  plant  bears  clusters  of  pale  red  speckled  berries  in 
autumn. 

1 60 


White  and  Greenish 


Hairy,  or  True,  or  Twin-flowered  Solomon's 
Seal 

(Polygonatwn  biflorum)  Lily-of-the- Valley  family 

Flowers — Whitish  or  yellowish  green,  tubular,  bell-shaped,  I  to  4, 
but  usually  2,  drooping  on  slender  peduncles  from  leaf  axils. 
Perianth  6-lobed  at  entrance,  but  not  spreading;  6  stamens, 
the  filaments  roughened;  I  pistil.  Stem:  Simple,  slender, 
arching,  leafy,  8  in.  to  3  ft.  long.  Leaves :  Oval,  pointed, 
or  lance-shaped,  alternate,  2  to  4  in.  long,  seated  on  stem, 
pale  beneath  and  softly  hairy  along  veins.  Rootstock :  Thick, 
horizontal,  jointed,  scarred.  (Polygonatum  =  many  joints). 
Fruit:  A  blue-black  berry. 

Preferred  Habitat — Woods,  thickets,  shady  banks. 

Flowering  Season — April — June. 

Distribution — New  Brunswick  to  Florida,  westward  to  Michigan. 

From  a  many-jointed,  thick  rootstock  a  single  graceful  curved 
stem  arises  each  spring,  withers  after  fruiting,  and  leaves  a  round 
scar,  whose  outlines  suggested  to  the  fanciful  man  who  named 
the  genus  the  seal  of  Is;ael's  wise  king.  Thus  one  may  know  the 
age  of  a  root  by  its  seals,  as  one  tells  that  of  a  tree  by  the  rings  in 
its  trunk. 

The  dingy  little  cylindric  flowers,  hidden  beneath  the  leaves, 
may  be  either  self-pollenized  or  cross-pollenized  by  the  bumble- 
bees to  which  they  are  adapted.  "  We  may  suppose,"  says  Pro- 
fessor Robertson,  "that  the  pendulous  position  of  the  flowers 
owes  its  origin  to  the  fact  that  it  renders  them  less  convenient  to 
other  insects,  but  equally  convenient  to  the  higher  bees  which  are 
the  most  efficient  pollinators  ;  and  that  the  resulting  protection  to 
pollen  and  nectar  is  merely  an  incidental  effect."  Certain  Lepi- 
doptera,  and  small  insects  which  crawl  into  the  cylinder,  visit  all 
the  Solomon's  seals. 

The  Smooth  Solomon's  Seal  (P.  commutatum  or  P.  giganteum 
of  Gray),  with  much  the  same  range  as  its  smaller  relative,  grows 
in  moist  woods  and  along  shaded  streams.  It  is  a  variable,  capri- 
cious plant,  with  a  stout  or  slender  stem,  perhaps  only  one  foot 
high,  or  again  towering  above  the  tallest  man's  head  ;  the  oval 
leaves  also  vary  greatly  in  breadth  and  length;  and  a  solitary 
flower  may  droop  from  an  axil,  or  perhaps  eight  dingy  greenish 
cylinders  may  hang  in  a  cluster.  But  the  plant  is  always  smooth 
throughout.  Even  the  incurved  filaments  which  obstruct  the  en- 
trance to  this  flower  are  smooth  where  those  of  the  preceding 
species  are  rough-hairy.  The  style  is  so  short  that  it  may  never 
come  in  contact  with  the  anthers,  although  the  winged  visitors 
must  often  leave  pollen  of  the  same  flower  on  the  stigma. 
II  161 


White  and  Greenish 


Early  or  Dwarf  Wake-Robin 

(Trillium  nivale)  Lily-of-the- Valley  family 

Flowers — Solitary,  pure  white,  about  i  in.  long,  on  an  erect  or 
curved  peduncle,  from  a  whorl  of  3  leaves  at  summit  of  stem. 
Three  spreading,  green,  narrowly  oblong  sepals;  3  oval  or  ob- 
long petals;  6  stamens,  the  anthers  about  as  long  as  filaments; 
3  slender  styles  stigmatic  along  inner  side.  Stem :  2  to  6  in. 
high,  from  a  short,  tuber-like  rootstock.  Leaves:  3  in  a 
whorl  below  the  flower,  I  to  2  in.  long,  broadly  oval,  rounded 
at  end,  on  short  petioles.  Fruit:  A  3-lobed  reddish  berry, 
about  YI  in.  diameter,the  sepals  adhering. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rich,  moist  woods  and  thickets. 

Flowering  Season — March — May* 

Distribution — Pennsylvania,  westward  to  Minnesota  and  Iowa, 
south  to  Kentucky. 

Only  this  delicate  little  flower,  as  white  as  the  snow  it  some- 
times must  push  through  to  reach  the  sunshine  melting  the  last 
drifts  in  the  leafless  woods,  can  be  said  to  wake  the  robins  into 
song;  a  full  chorus  of  feathered  love-makers  greets  the  appearance 
of  the  more  widely  distributed,  and  therefore  better  known,  species. 

By  the  rule  of  three  all  the  trilliums,  as  their  name  implies, 
regulate  their  affairs.  Three  sepals,  three  petals,  twice  three  sta- 
mens, three  styles,  a  three-Celled  ovary,  the  flower  growing  out 
from  a  whorl  of  three  leaves,  make  the  naming  of  wake-robins  a 
simple  matter  to  the  novice.  Rarely  do  the  parts  divide  into  fours, 
or  the  petals  and  Sepals  revert  to  primitive  green  leaves.  With 
the  exception  of  the  painted  trillium  which  sometimes  grows  in 
bogs,  all  the  clan  live  in  rich,  moist  woods,  It  is  said  the  roots 
are  poisonous.  In  them  the  next  year's  leaves  lie  curled  through 
the  winter,  as  in  the  iris  and  Solomon's  seal,  among  others. 

One  of  the  most  chastely  beautiful  of  our  native  wild  flowers 
— so  lovely  that  many  shady  nooks  in  English  rock-gardens  and 
ferneries  contain  imported  clumps  of  the  vigorous  plant — is  the 
Large-flowered  Wake-Robin,  or  White  Wood  Lily  (T.  grandi- 
florum).  Under  favorable  conditions  the  waxy,  thin,  white,  or 
occasionally  pink,  strongly  veined  petals  may  exceed  two  inches; 
and  in  Michigan  a  monstrous  form  has  been  found.  The  broadly 
rhombic  leaves,  tapering  to  a  point,  and  lacking  petioles,  are  Seated 
in  the  usual  whorl  of  three,  at  the  summit  of  the  stem,  which  may 
attain  a  foot  and  a  half  in  height;  from  the  centre  the  decorative 
flower  arises  on  a  long  peduncle.  At  first  the  entrance  to  the 
blossom  is  closed  by  the  long  anthers  which  much  exceed  the  fila- 
ments; and  hive-bees,  among  other  insects,  in  collecting  pollen, 

162 


PAINTED    WAKE-ROBIN 
(.Trillium  undulatum} 


White  and  Greenish 

transfer  it  to  older  and  now  expanded  flowers,  in  which  the  low 
stigmas  appear  between  the  tall  separated  stamens.  Nectar  stored 
in  septal  glands  at  the  base  invites  the  visitor  laden  with  pollen 
from  young  flowers  to  come  in  contact  with  the  three  late  matur- 
ing stigmas.  The  berry  is  black.  From  Quebec  to  Florida  and 
far  westward  we  find  this  tardy  wake-robin  in  May  or  June. 

Certainly  the  commonest  trillium  in  the  East,  although  it 
thrives  as  far  westward  as  Ontario  and  Missouri,  and  south  to 
Georgia,  is  the  Nodding  Wake-Robin  (T.  cernuum),  whose  white 
or  pinkish  flower  droops  from  its  peduncle  until  it  is  all  but  hid- 
den under  the  whorl  of  broadly  rhombic,  tapering  leaves.  The 
wavy  margined  petals,  about  as  long  as  the  sepals— that  is  to  say, 
half  an  inch  long  or  over — -curve  backward  at  maturity.  Accord- 
ing to  Miss  Carter,  who  studied  the  flower  in  the  Botanical  Gar- 
den at  South  Hadley,  Mass.,  it  is  slightly  proterandrous,  maturing 
its  anthers  first,  but  with  a  chance  of  spontaneous  self-pollination 
by  the  stigmas  recurving  to  meet  the  shorter  stamens.  She  saw 
bumblebees  visiting  it  for  nectar.  In  late  summer  an  egg-shaped, 
pendulous  red-purple  berry  swings  from  the  summit.  One  finds 
the  plant  in  bloom  from  April  to  June,  according  to  the  climate  of 
its  long  range. 

Perhaps  the  most  strikingly  beautiful  member  of  the  tribe  is 
the  Painted  Trillium  (7".  undulatutn) — T.  erythrocarpum  of  Gray. 
At  the  summit  of  the  slender  stem,  rising  perhaps  only  eight  inches, 
or  maybe  twice  as  high,  this  charming  flower  spreads  its  long, 
wavy-edged,  waxy-white  petals  veined  and  striped  with  deep 
pink  or  wine  color.  The  large  ovate  leaves,  long-tapering  to  a 
point,  are  rounded  at  the  base  into  short  petioles.  The  rounded, 
three-angled,  bright  red,  shining  berry  is  seated  in  the  persistent 
calyx.  With  the  same  range  as  the  nodding  trillium's,  the  painted 
wake-robin  comes  into  bloom  nearly  a  month  later — in  May  and 
June — when  all  the  birds  are  not  only  wide  awake,  but  have 
finished  courting,  and  are  busily  engaged  in  the  most  serious 
business  of  life. 


Showy   Lady's  Slipper 

{Cypripedlum  reginae)  Orchid  family 
(C.  spec  tab  He  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Usually  solitary,  at  summit  of  stem,  white,  or  the  inflated 

white  lip  painted  with  purplish  pink  and  white  stripes;  sepals 

roundea   oval,  spreading,  white,  not  longer  than  the  lip; 

petals  narrower,  white;  the  broad  sac-shaped  pouch  open  in 

163 


White  and  Greenish 

front,  i  in.  long  or  over.     Stem:  Stout,  leafy,  i  to  2  ft.  high. 

Leaves  :  3  to  8  in.  long,  downy,  elliptic,  pointed,  many  ribbed. 
Preferred  Habitat — Peat-bogs;  rich,  low,  wet  woods. 
Flowering  Season — j une — September. 
Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Georgia,  westward  to  the  Mississippi. 

Chiefly  North. 

Quite  different  from  the  showy  orchis,  is  this  far  more  chaste 
showy  lady's  slipper  which  Dr.  Gray  has  called  "the  most 
beautiful  of  the  genus."  Because  the  plants  live  in  inaccessible 
swampy  places,  where  only  the  most  zealous  flower  lover  pene- 
trates they  have  a  reputation  for  rarity  at  which  one  who  knows 
a  dozen  places  to  find  colonies  of  the  stately  exquisites  during  a 
morning  s  walk,  must  smile  with  superiority.  Wine  appears  to 
overflow  the  large  white  cup  and  trickle  down  its  sides.  Some- 
times unstained,  pure  white  chalices  are  found.  C.  album  is  the 
name  by  which  the  plant  is  known  in  England.  See  note,  p.  271. 


Large  Round-leaved  or  Greater  Green  Orchis 

(Habenaria  orbiculata)  Orchid  family 

Flowers — Greenish  white,  in  a  loosely  set  spike;  the  upper  sepal 
short,  rounded;  side  ones  spreading;  petals  smaller,  arching; 
the  lip  long,  narrow,  drooping,  white,  prolonged  into  a  spur 
often  i  %  in.  long,  curved  and  enlarged  at  base ;  anther  sacs 
prominent,  converging.  Scape :  i  to  2  ft.  high.  Leaves  :  2, 
spreading  flat  on  ground,  glossy  above,  silvery  underneath, 
parallel-veined,  slightly  longer  than  wide,  very  large,  from  4 
to  7  in.  across. 

Preferred  Habitat- — Rich,  moist  woods  in  mountainous  regions, 
especially  near  evergreens. 

Flowering  Season—}  uly — August. 

Distribution — From  British  Columbia  to  the  Atlantic ;  eastern  half 
of  the  United  States  southward  to  the  Carolinas. 

Wonderfully  interesting  structure  and  the  comparative  rarity 
of  this  orchid,  rather  than  superficial  beauty,  are  responsible  for  the 
thrill  of  pleasure  one  experiences  at  the  sight  of  the  spike  of  unpre- 
tentious flowers.  Two  great  leaves,  sometimes  as  large  as  dinner 
plates,  attract  the  eye  to  where  they  glisten  on  the  ground.  The 
spur  of  the  blossom,  the  nectary,  "implies  a  welcome  to  a  tongue 
two  inches  long,  and  will  reward  none  other,"  says  William  Ham- 
ilton Gibson.  "This  clearly  shuts  out  the  bees,  butterflies,  and 
smaller  moths.  What  insect,  then,  is  here  implied  ?  The  sphinx 
moth,  one  of  the  lesser  of  the  group.  A  larger  individual  might 
sip  the  nectar,  it  is  true,  but  its  longer  tongue  would  reach  the 
base  of  the  tube  without  effecting  the  slightest  contact  with  the 

164 


White  and  Greenish 

pollen,  which  is,  of  course,  the  desideratum."  How  the  moth,  in 
sipping  the  nectar,  thrusts  his  head  against  the  sticky  buttons  to 
which  the  pollen  masses  are  attached,  and,  in  trying  to  release 
himself,  loosens  them ;  how  he  flies  off  with  these  little  clubs 
sticking  to  his  eyes;  how  they  automatically  adjust  themselves  to 
the  attitude  where  they  will  come  in  contact  with  the  stigma  of 
the  next  flower  visited,  and  so  cross-fertilize  it,  has  been  told  in 
the  account  of  the  great  purple-fringed  orchis  of  similar  construc- 
tion. To  page  12  the  interested  reader  is,  therefore,  referred;  or, 
better  still,  to  the  luminous  description  by  Dr.  Asa  Gray. 


White-fringed  Orchis 

(Habenaria  blephariglottis)  Orchid  family 

flowers — Pure  white,  fragrant,  borne  on  a  spike  from  3  to  6  in. 
long.  Spur  long,  slender ;  oval  sepals ;  smaller  petals 
toothed;  the  oblong  lip  deeply  fringed.  Stem:  Slender,  i  to 
2  ft.  high.  Leaves:  Lance-shaped,  parallel-veined,  clasping 
the  stem;  upper  ones  smallest. 

Preferred  Habitat — Peat-bogs  and  swamps. 

Flowering  Season — July — August. 

Distribution — Northeastern  United  States  and  eastern  Canada  to 
Newfoundland. 

One  who  selfishly  imagines  that  all  the  floral  beauty  of  the 
earth  was  created  for  man's  sole  delight  will  wonder  why  a  flower 
so  exquisitely  beautiful  as  this  dainty  little  orchid  should  be  hidden 
in  inaccessible  peat-bogs,  where  overshoes  and  tempers  get  lost 
with  deplorable  frequency,  and  the  water-snake  and  bittern  mock 
at  man's  intrusion  of  their  realm  by  the  ease  with  which  they 
move  away  from  him.  Not  for  man,  but  for  the  bee,  the  moth, 
and  the  butterfly,  are  orchids  where  they  are  and  what  they  are. 
The  white-fringed  orchis  grows  in  watery  places  that  it  may  more 
easily  manufacture  nectar,  and  protect  itself  from  crawling  pil- 
ferers; its  flowers  are  clustered  on  a  spike,  their  lips  are  fringed, 
they  have  been  given  fragrance  and  a  snowy-white  color  that 
they  may  effectually  advertise  their  sweets  on  whose  removal  by 
an  insect  benefactor  that  will  carry  pollen  from  flower  to  flower 
as  he  feeds  depends  their  chance  of  producing  fertile  seed.  It  is 
probable  the  flower  is  white  that  night-flying  moths  may  see  it 
shine  in  the  gloaming.  From  the  length  and  slenderness  of  its 
spur  it  is  doubtless  adapted  to  the  sphinx  moth. 

At  the  entrance  to  the  nectary,  two  sticky  disks  stand  on 
guard,  ready  to  fasten  themselves  to  the  eyes  of  the  first  moth  that 
inserts  his  tongue;  and  he  finds  on  withdrawing  his  head  that 
two  pollen-masses  attached  to  these  disks  have  been  removed 

165 


White  and  Greenish 

with  them.  This  plastering  over  of  insects'  eyes  by  the  orchids 
might  be  serious  business,  indeed,  were  not  the  lepidoptera  gifted 
with  numerous  pairs.  The  fragrance  of  many  orchids,  however, 
would  be  a  sufficient  guide  even  to  a  blind  insect.  With  the 
pollen-masses  sticking  to  his  forehead,  the  moth  enters  another 
flower  and  necessarily  rubs  off  some  grains  from  the  pollen- 
masses,  that  have  changed  their  attitude  during  his  flight  that  they 
may  be  in  the  precise  position  to  fertilize  the  viscid  stigma.  In 
almost  the  same  way  the  similar  yellow-fringed  orchis  (//.  ciiiaris) 
and  the  great  green  orchids  compel  insects  to  work  for  them. 

A  larger-flowered  species,  the  Prairie  White-fringed  Orchis 
(H.  k"cophea),  found  in  bloom  in  June  and  July,  on  moist,  open 
ground  from  western  New  York  to  Minnesota  and  Arkansas, 
differs  from  the  preceding  chiefly  in  having  larger  and  greenish- 
white  flowers,  the  lip  cleft  into  wedge-shaped  segments  deeply 
fringed.  The  hawk-moth  removes  on  its  tongue  one,  but  not  often 
both,  of  the  pollinia  attached  to  disks  on  eithersideof  the  entrance 
to  the  spur. 

Nodding  Ladies'  Tresses  or  Traces 

(Gyrostachys  cermia)  Orchid  family 
(Spiranthes  cernua  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Small,  white  or  yellowish,  without  a  spur,  fragrant,  nod- 
ding or  spreading  in  3  rows  on  a  cylindrical,  slightly  twisted 
spike  4  or  5  in.  long.  Side  sepals  free,  the  upper  ones 
arching,  and  united  with  petals  ;  the  oblong,  spreading  lip 
crinkle-edged,  and  bearing  minute,  hairy  callosities  at  base. 
Stem :  6  in.  to  2  ft.  tall,  with  several  pointed,  wrapping  bracts. 
Leaves :  From  or  near  the  base,  linear,  almost  grass-like. 

Preferred  Habitat — Low  meadows,  ditches,  and  swamps. 

Flowering  Season — July — October. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  westward 
to  the  Mississippi. 

This  last  orchid  of  the  season,  and  perhaps  the  commonest  of 
its  interesting  tribe  in  the  eastern  United  States,  at  least,  bears 
flowers  that,  however  insignificant  in  size,  are  marvellous  pieces 
of  mechanism,  to  which  such  men  as  Charles  Darwin  and  Asa 
Gray  have  devoted  hours  of  study  and,  these  two  men  particu- 
larly, much  correspondence. 

Just  as  a  woodpecker  begins  at  the  bottom  of  a  tree  and  taps 
his  way  upward,  so  a  bee  begins  at  the  lower  and  older  flowers 
on  a  spike  and  works  up  to  the  younger  ones  ;  a  fact  on  which 
this  little  orchid,  like  many  another  plant  that  arranges  its  blos- 
soms in  long  racemes,  depends.  Let  us  not  note  for  the  present 

1 66 


White  and  Greenish 

what  happens  in  the  older  flowers,  but  begin  our  observations, 
with  the  help  of  a  powerful  lens,  when  the  bee  has  alighted  on 
the  spreading  lip  of  a  newly  opened  blossom  toward  the  top  of 
the  spire.  As  nectar  is  already  secreted  for  her  in  its  receptacle,  she 
thrusts  her  tongue  through  the  channel  provided  to  guide  it  aright, 
and  by  the  slight  contact  with  the  furrowed  rosteilum,  it  splits, 
and  releases  a  boat-shaped  disk  standing  vertically  on  its  stern  in 
the  passage.  Within  the  boat  is  an  extremely  sticky  cement  that 
hardens  almost  instantly  on  exposure  to  the  air.  The  splitting  of 
the  rostellum,  curiously  enough,  never  happens  without  insect 
aid  ;  but  if  a  bristle  or  needle  be  passed  over  it  ever  so  lightly,  a 
stream  of  sticky,  milky  fluid  exudes,  hardens,  and  the  boat- 
shaped  disk,  with  pollen  masses  attached,  may  be  withdrawn  on 
the  bristle  just  as  the  bee  removes  them  with  her  tongue.  Each 
pollinium  consists  of  two  leaves  of  pollen  united  for  about  half 
their  length  in  the  middle  with  elastic  threads.  As  the  pollinia 
are  attached  parallel  to  the  disk,  they  stick  parallel  on  the  bee's 
tongue,  yet  she  may  fold  up  her  proboscis  under  her  head,  if  she 
choose,  without  inconvenience  from  the  pollen  masses,  or  with- 
out danger  of  loosening  them.  Now,  having  finished  sucking  the 
newly  opened  flowers  at  the  top  of  the  spike,  away  she  flies  to 
an  older  flower  at  the  bottom  of  another  one.  Here  a  marvel- 
lous thing  has  happened.  The  passage  which,  when  the  flower 
first  expanded,  scarcely  permitted  a  bristle  to  pass,  has  now  wid- 
ened through  the  automatic  downward  movement  of  the  column 
in  order  to  expose  the  stigmatic  surfaces  to  contact  with  the  pol- 
len masses  brought  by  the  bee.  V/ithout  the  bee's  help  this 
orchid,  with  a  host  of  other  flowers,  must  disappear  from  the  face 
of  the  earth.  So  very  many  species  which  have  lost  the  power 
to  fertilize  themselves  now  depend  absolutely  on  these  little 
pollen  carriers,  it  is  safe  to  say  that,  should  the  bees  perish,  one 
half  our  flora  would  be  exterminated  with  them.  On  the  slight 
downward  movement  of  the  column  in  the  ladies'  tresses,  then, 
as  well  as  on  the  bee's  ministrations,  the  fertilization  of  the  flower 
absolutely  depends.  "  If  the  stigma  of  the  lowest  flower  has 
already  been  fully  fertilized,"  says  Darwin,  "little  or  no  pollen 
will  be  left  on  its  dried  surface  ;  but  on  the  next  succeeding  flower, 
of  which  the  stigma  is  adhesive,  large  sheets  of  pollen  will  be 
left.  Then  as  soon  as  the  bee  arrives  near  the  summit  of  the 
spike  she  will  withdraw  fresh  pollinia,  will  fly  to  the  lower  flowers 
on  another  plant,  and  fertilize  them  ;  and  thus,  as  she  goes  her 
rounds  and  adds  to  her  store  of  honey,  she  continually  fertilizes 
fresh  flowers  and  perpetuates  the  race  of  autumnal  spiranthes, 
which  will  yield  honey  to  future  generations  of  bees." 

The  Slender  Ladies'  Tresses  (G.  gracilis),  with  a  range  and 
season  of  blossom  similar  to  the  preceding  species,  and  with  even 
smaller  white,  fragrant  flowers,  growing  on  one  side  of  a  twisted 

167 


White  and  Greenish 


spike,  chooses  dry  fields,  hillsides,  open  woods,  and  sandy  places 
— queer  habitats  for  a  member  of  its  moisture-loving  tribe.  Its 
leaves  have  usually  fallen  by  flowering  time.  The  cluster  of 
tuberous,  spindle-shaped  roots  are  an  aid  to  indentification. 


Lesser  Rattlesnake  Plantain 

(Peramium  rep  ens)  Orchid  family 
(Goody era  repens  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Small,  greenish  white,  the  lip  pocket-shaped,  borne  on 
one  side  of  a  bracted  spike  5  to  10  in.  high,  from  a  fleshy, 
thick,  fibrous  root.  Leaves :  From  the  base,  tufted,  or  ascend- 
ing the  stem  on  one  side  for  a  few  inches,  ^  in.  to  over  i  in. 
long,  ovate,  the  silvery-white  veins  forming  a  network,  or 
leaf  blotched  with  white. 

Preferred  Habitat— Woods,  especially  under  evergreens. 

Flowering  Season— }u\y — August. 

Distribution — Colorado  eastward  to  the  Atlantic,  from  Nova  Scotia 
to  Florida.  Europe  and  Asia. 

Tufts  of  these  beautifully  marked  little  leaves  carpeting  the 
ground  in  the  shadow  of  the  hemlocks  attract  the  eye,  rather  than 
the  spires  of  insignificantly  small  flowers.  Whoever  wishes  to 
know  how  the  bumblebee  ruptures  the  sensitive  membrane 
within  the  tiny  blossom  with  her  tongue,  and  draws  out  the  pol- 
linia  that  are  instantly  cemented  to  it  after  much  the  same  plan 
employed  by  the  ladies'  tresses,  must  use  a  good  lens  in  studying 
the  operation.  To  the  structural  botanist  the  rattlesnake  plan- 
tains form  an  interesting  connecting  link  between  orchids  of  dis- 
tinct forms.  In  them  we  see  a  tendency  to  lengthen  the  pollen- 
masses  into  caudicles  as  the  showy  orchis,  for  example,  has  done. 
"Goody era  probably  shows  us  the  state  of  organs  in  a  group  of 
orchids  now  mostly  extinct,"  says  Darwin;  "but  the  parents  of 
many  living  descendants." 

It  has  been  said  that  the  Indians  use  this  plant  to  cure  bites  of 
the  rattlesnake  ;  that  they  will  handle  the  deadly  creature  without 
fear  if  some  of  these  leaves  are  near  at  hand — in  fact,  a  good  deal 
is  said  about  Indians  by  pale-faces  that  makes  even  the  stolid  red 
man  smile  when  confronted  with  the  white  man's  tales  about 
him.  An  intelligent  Indian  student  declares  that  none  of  his  race 
will  handle  a  rattlesnake  unless  its  fangs  have  been  removed ;  that 
this  plant  takes  its  name  from  the  resemblance  of  its  netted-veined 
leaves  to  the  belly  of  a  serpent,  and  not  to  their  curative  powers; 
and,  finally,  that  the  Southern  tribes,  especially,  so  reverence  the 
rattlesnake  that,  far  from  trying  to  cure  its  bite,  they  count  them- 
selves blessed  to  be  bitten  to  death  by  one.  Indeed,  the  rattle,  a 

1 68 


White  and  Greenish 

sacred  symbol,  has  been  employed  in  religious  ceremonies  of  most 
tribes.  Snakes  may  be  revered  in  other  lands,  but  only  in  Amer- 
ica is  the  rattlesnake  worshipped.  Among  the  Moquis  there  still 
survives  much  of  the  religion  of  the  snake-worshipping  Aztecs. 
Bernal  Diaz  tells  how  living  rattlesnakes,  kept  in  the  great  temple 
at  Mexico  as  sacred  and  petted  objects,  were  fed  with  the  bodies 
of  the  sacrificed.  Cortes  found  a  town  called  by  the  Spaniards 
Terraguea,  or  the  city  of  serpents,  whose  walls  and  temples  were 
decorated  with  figures  of  the  reptiles,  which  the  inhabitants  wor- 
shipped as  gods. 

The  Downy  Rattlesnake  Plantain  (P.  pubescens),  usually  a 
taller  plant  than  the  preceding,  with  larger  cream-white,  globular- 
lipped  flowers  on  both  sides  of  its  spike,  and  glandular-hairy 
throughout,  has  even  more  strongly  marked  leaves.  These,  the 
most  conspicuous  parts,  are  dark  grayish  green,  heavily  netted 
with  greenish  or  silvery-white  veins,  silky  to  the  touch,  and  often 
wavy  edged.  This  plant  scarcely  strays  westward  beyond  the 
Mississippi,  but  it  is  common  East.  It  also  blooms  in  midsummer, 
and  shows  a  preference  for  dry  woods  where  oak  and  pine  abound. 

Lizard's  Tail 

(Saururus  cernuus)  Lizard's-tail  family 

Flowers — Fragrant,  very  small,  white,  lacking  a  perianth,  bracted, 
densely  crowded  on  peduncled,  slender  spikes  4  to  6  in.  long 
and  nodding  at  the  tip.  Stamens  6  to  8,  the  filaments  white; 
carpels  3  or  4,  united  at  base,  dangling.  Stem :  2  to  5  ft.  high, 
jointed,  sparingly  branched,  leafy.  Leaves:  Heart-shaped, 
palmately  ribbed,  dark  green,  thin,  on  stout  petioles. 

Preferred  Habitat — Swamps,  shallow  water. 

Flowering  Season — June — August. 

Distribtition— Southern  New  England  to  the  Gulf,  westward  to 
Minnesota  and  Texas. 

The  fragrance  arising  from  these  curious,  drooping,  tail-like 
spikes  of  flowers,  where  they  grow  in  numbers,  must  lure  their  in- 
sect friends  as  it  does  us,  since  no  showy  petals  or  sepals  advertise 
their  presence.  Nevertheless  they  are  what  are  known  as  perfect 
flowers,  each  possessing  stamens  and  pistils,  the  only  truly  essential 
parts,  however  desirable  a  gayly  colored  perianth  may  be  to  blos- 
soms attempting  to  woo  such  large  land  insects  as  the  bumblebee 
and  butterfly.  Since  flies,  whose  color  sense  is  by  no  means  so 
acute  as  their  sense  of  smell,  are  by  far  the  most  abundant  fertilizers 
of  waterside  plants,  we  can  see  a  tendency  in  such  to  suppress  their 
petals,  for  the  flowers  to  become  minute  and  massed  in  series  that 
the  little  visitors  may  more  readily  transfer  pollen  from  one  to  an- 
other, and  to  become  fragrant — just  what  the  lizard's  tail  has  done. 

169 


White  and  Greenish 

Spring1  Beauty;  Claytonia 

(Claytonia  Virginica)  Purslane  family. 

Flowers — White  veined  with  pink,  or  all  pink,  the  veinings  of 
deeper  shade,  on  curving,  slender  pedicels,  several  borne  in 
a  terminal  loose  raceme,  the  flowers  mostly  turned  one  way 
(secund).  Calyx  of  2  ovate  sepals ;  corolla  of  5  petals  slightly 
united,  by  their  bases;  5  stamens,  i  inserted  on  base  of  each 
petal;  the  style  j$-cleft.  Stem:  Weak,  6  to  12  in.  long,  from 
a  deep,  tuberous  root.  Leaves :  Opposite  above,  linear  to 
lance-shaped,  shorter  than  basal  ones,  which  are  3  to  7  in. 
long;  breadth  variable. 

Preferred  Habitat — Moist  woods,  open  groves,  low  meadows. 

Flowering  Season — March— May. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  and  far  westward,  south  to  Georgia  and 
Texas. 

Dainty  clusters  of  these  delicate,  starry  blossoms,  mostly  turned 
in  one  direction,  expand  in  the  sunshine  only,  like  their  gaudy 
cousin  the  portulaca  and  the  insignificant  little  yellow  flowers  of 
another  relative,  the  ubiquitous,  invincible  "pussley  "  immortalized 
in  "  My  Summer  in  a  Garden."  At  night  and  during  cloudy, 
stormy  weather,  when  their  benefactors  are  not  flying,  the  clay- 
tonias  economically  close  their  petals  to  protect  nectar  and  pollen 
from  rain  and  pilferers.  Pick  them,  the  whole  plant  droops,  and 
the  blossoms  close  with  indignation;  nor  will  any  coaxing  but  a 
combination  of  hot  water  and  sunshine  induce  them  to  open  again. 
Theirs  is  a  long  beauty  sleep.  They  are  supersensitive  exquisites, 
however  hardy. 

Very  early  in  the  spring  a  race  is  run  with  the  hepatica,  ar- 
butus, adder's  tongue,  blood-root,  squirrel  corn,  and  anemone  for 
the  honor  of  being  the  earliest  wild  flower;  and  although  John 
Burroughs  and  Dr.  Abbott  have  had  the  exceptional  experience  of 
finding  the  claytonia  even  before  the  hepatica — certainly  the  ear- 
liest spring  blossom  worthy  the  name  in  the  Middle  and  New 
England  States — of  course  the  rank  skunk-cabbage,  whose  name 
is  snobbishly  excluded  from  the  list  of  fair  competitors,  has  quietly 
opened  dozens  of  minute  florets  in  its  incurved  horn  before  the 
others  have  even  started. 

Whether  the  petals  of  the  spring  beauty  are  white  or  pink, 
they  are  always  exquisitely  marked  with  pink  lines  converging 
near  the  base  and  ending  in  a  yellow  blotch  to  serve  as  pathfind- 
ers for  the  female  bumblebees  and  the  little  brown  bombylius, 
among  other  pollen  carriers.  A  newly  opened  flower,  with  its 
stamens  surrounding  the  pistil,  must  be  in  peril  of  self-fertiliza- 
tion one  would  think  who  did  not  notice  that  when  the  pollen  is 
in  condition  for  removal  by  the  bees  and  flies,  the  stigmatic  sur- 

170 


White  and  Greenish 

faces  of  the  three-cleft  style  are  tightly  pressed  together  that  not 
a  grain  may  touch  them.  But  when  the  anthers  have  shed  their 
pollen,  and  the  filaments  have  spread  outward  and  away  from  the 
pistil,  the  three  stigmatic  arms  branch  out  to  receive  the  fertilizing 
dust  carried  from  younger  flowers  by  their  busy  friends. 

Starry  Campion 

(Silene  stellata)  Pink  family 

Flowers — White,  about  YZ  in.  broad  or  over,  loosely  clustered  in 
a  showy,  pyramidal  panicle.  Calyx  bell-shaped,  swollen, 
5-toothed,  sticky  ;  5  fringed  and  clawed  petals  ;  10  long, 
exserted  stamens  ;  3  styles.  Stem:  Erect,  leafy,  2  to  jYz  ft. 
tall,  rough-hairy.  Leaves :  Oval,  tapering  to  a  point,  2  to  4  in. 
long,  seated  in  whorls  of  4  around  stem,  or  loose  ones  opposite. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Woods,  shady  banks, 

floivering  Season — June — August. 

Distribution — Rhode  Island  westward  to  Mississippi,  south  to  the 
Carolinas  and  Arkansas. 

Feathery  white  panicles  of  the  starry  campion,  whose  pro- 
truding stamens  and  fringed  petals  give  it  a  certain  fleeciness,  are 
dainty  enough  for  spring  ;  by  midsummer  we  expect  plants  of 
ranker  growth  and  more  gaudy  flowers.  To  save  the  nectar  in 
each  deep  tube  for  the  moths  and  butterflies  which  cross-fertilize 
all  this  tribe  of  night  and  day  blossoms,  most  of  them — and  the 
campions  are  notorious  examples — spread  their  calices,  and  some 
their  pedicels  as  well,  with  a  sticky  substance  to  entrap  little 
crawling  pilferers.  Although  a  popular  name  for  the  genus  is 
catchfly,  it  is  usually  the  ant  that  is  glued  to  the  viscid  parts,  for 
the  fly  that  moves  through  the  air  alights  directly  on  the  flower 
it  is  too  short-lipped  to  suck.  An  ant  catching  its  feet  on  the  minia- 
ture lime-twig,  at  first  raises  one  foot  after  another  and  draws  it 
through  its  mouth,  hoping  to  rid  it  of  the  sticky  stuff,  but  only 
with  the  result  of  gluing  up  its  head  and  other  parts  of  the  body.  In 


ten  minutes  all  the  pathetic  struggles  are  ended.     Let  no  one  guilty 
of  torturing  flies  to  death  on  stick} 


cy  paper  condemn  the  Silenes  ! 


The  Bladder  Campion  (S.  vulgaris) — S.  inflata  of  Gray — to 
be  recognized  by  its  much  inflated  calyx,  especially  round  in  fruit, 
the  two-cleft  white  petals,  and  its  opposite  leaves  that  are  spatu- 
late  at  the  base  of  the  plant,  is  a  European  immigrant  now  nat- 
uralized and  locally  very  common  from  Illinois  eastward  to  New 
Jersey  and  north  to  New  Brunswick.  Like  the  night-flowering 
catchfly  (p.  93)  this  blossom  has  adapted  itself  to  the  night-flying- 
moths  ;  but  when  either  remains  open  in  the  morning,  bumble- 
bees gladly  take  the  leavings  in  the  deep  cup.  To  insure  cross- 

171 


White  and  Greenish 

fertilization,  some  of  the  bladder-campion  flowers  have  stamens 
only,  some  have  a  pistil  only,  some  have  both  organs  maturing 
at  different  times.  In  all  the  night-flowering  Silene,  each  flower, 
unless  unusually  disturbed,  lasts  three  days  and  three  nights. 
Late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  first  day,  when  the  petals  begin  to  ex- 
pand, the  five  stamens  opposite  the  sepals  lengthen  in  about  two 
hours,  and  by  sunset  the  anthers,  which  have  matured  at  the  same 
time,  are  covered  with  pollen.  So  they  remain  until  the  forenoon 
of  the  second  day,  and  then  the  emptied  anthers  hang  like  shrivelled 
bags,  or  drop  off  altogether.  Late  in  the  second  afternoon,  the 
second  set  of  stamens  repeat  the  actions  of  their  predecessors,  bend 
backward  and  shed  their  anthers  the  following,  that  is  to  say  the 
third,  morning.  But  on  the  third  afternoon  up  rise  the  S-shaped, 
twisted  stigmas,  which  until  now  had  been  hidden  in  the  centre 
of  the  flower.  Moths,  therefore,  must  transfer  pollen  from  younger 
to  older  blossoms. 

"  With  this  lengthening  and  bending  of  the  stamens  and  stig- 
mas," says  Dr.  Kerner,  "goes  hand  in  hand  the  opening  and 
shutting  of  the  corolla.  With  the  approach  of  dusk,  the  bifid 
limbs  of  the  petals  spread  out  in  a  flat  surface  and  fall  back  against , 
the  calyx.  In  this  position  they  remain  through  the  night,  and 
not  till  the  following  morning  do  they  begin  (more  quickly  in 
sunshine  and  with  a  mild  temperature,  more  slowly  with  a  cloudy 
sky  and  in  cold,  wet  weather)  to  curl  themselves  up  in  an  in- 
curved spire,  while  at  the  same  time  they  form  longitudinal 
creases,  and  look  as  though  they  were  gathered  in,  or  wrinkled ; 
.  .  .  but  no  sooner  does  evening  return  than  the  wrinkles  dis- 
appear, the  petals  become  smooth,  uncurl  themselves,  and  fall 
back  upon  the  calyx,  and  the  corolla  is  again  expanded." 

Curiously  enough,  these  flowers,  which  by  day  we  should 
certainly  say  were  not  fragrant,  give  forth  a  strong  perfume  at 
evening  the  better  to  guide  moths  to  their  feast.  From  eight  in 
the  evening  until  three  in  the  morning  the  fragrance  is  especially 
strong.  The  white  blossoms,  so  conspicuous  at  night,  have  little 
attraction  for  color-loving  butterflies  and  bees  by  day;  then,  as 
there  is  no  pollen  to  be  carried  from  the  shrivelled  anther  sacs,  no 
visitor  is  welcome,  and  the  petals  close  to  protect  the  nectar  for 
the  flower's  true  benefactors.  Indeed,  few  flowers  show  more 
thorough  adaptation  to  the  night-flying  moths  than  these  Silene. 

Common  Chickweed 

(Alsine  media}  Pink  family 
(Stellaria  media  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Small,  white,  on  slender  pedicels  from  leaf  axils,  also  in 
terminal  clusters.     Calyx  (usually)  of  5  sepals,  much  longer 
172 


White  and  Greenish 

than  the  5  (usually)  2-parted  petals  52-10  stamens  ;  3  or  4 
styles.  Stem :  Weak,  branched,  tufted,  leafy,  4  to  6  in  long, 
a  hairy  fringe  on  one  side.  Leaves :  Opposite,  acutely  oval, 
lower  ones  petioled,  upper  ones  seated  on  stem. 

Preferred  Habitat — Moist,  shady  soil  ;  woods  ;  meadows. 

Flowering  Season — Throughout  the  year. 

Distribution — Almost  universal. 

The  sole  use  man  has  discovered  for  this  often  pestiferous 
weed  with  which  nature  carpets  moist  soil  the  world  around  is 
to  feed  caged  song-birds.  What  is  the  secret  of  the  insignificant 
little  plant's  triumphal  progress  ?  Like  most  immigrants  that 
have  undergone  ages  of  selective  struggle  in  the  Old  World,  it 
successfully  competes  with  our  native  blossoms  by  readily  adjust- 
ing itself  to  new  conditions,  filling  places  unoccupied,  and  chiefly 
by  prolonging  its  season  of  bloom  beyond  theirs,  to  get  relief 
from  the  pressure  of  competition  for  insect  trade  in  the  busy  sea- 
son. Except  during  the  most  cruel  frosts,  there  is  scarcely  a  day 
in  the  year  when  we  may  not  find  the  little  star-like  chickweed 
flowers.  Contrast  this  season  with  that  of  a  native  chickweed, 
the  Long-leaved  Stitchwort  (A.  longifolia),  blooming  only  from 
May  till  July,  when  competition  is  fiercest !  Also,  the  common 
chickweed  has  its  parts  so  arranged  that  it  can  fertilize  itself  when 
it  is  too  cold  for  insect  pollen-carriers  to  fly  ;  then,  especially,  are 
many  of  its  stamens  abortive,  not  to  waste  the  precious  dust. 
Yet  even  in  winter  it  produces  abundant  seed.  In  sunny,  fine 
spring  weather,  however,  when  so  much  nectar  is  secreted  the 
fine  little  drops  may  be  easily  seen  by  the  naked  eye,  small  bees, 
flies,  and  even  thrips  visit  the  blossoms  whose  anthers  shed  pol- 
len one  by  one  before  the  three  stigmatic  surfaces  are  ready  to 
receive  any  from  younger  flowers. 


Sweet-scented  White  Water  Lily;    Pond  Lily; 
Water   Nymph;   Water   Cabbage 

(Castalia  odor  aid)  Water-lily  family 
(Nymph&a  odorata  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Pure  white  or  pink  tinged,  rarely  deep  pink,  solitary,  3 
to  8  in.  across,  deliciously  fragrant,  floating.  Calyx  of  4 
sepals,  green  outside  ;  petals  of  indefinite  number,  overlap- 
ping in  many  rows,  and  gradually  passing  into  an  indefinite 
number  of  stamens  ;  outer  row  of  stamens  with  petaloid  fila- 
ments and  short  anthers,  the  inner  yellow  stamens  with 
slender  filaments  and  elongated  anthers  ;  carpels  of  indefinite 
number,  united  into  a  compound  pistil,  with  spreading  and 

173 


White  and  Greenish 

projecting  stigmas.  Leaves:  Floating,  nearly  round,  slit  at 
bottom,  shining  green  above,  reddish  and  more  or  less  hairy 
below,  4  to  12  in.  across,  attached  to  petiole  at  centre  of 
lower  surface.  Petioles  and  peduncles  round  and  rubber-like, 
with  4  main  air-channels.  Rootstock :  (Not  true  stem),  thick, 
simple  or  with  few  branches,  very  long. 

Preferred  Habitat — Still  water,  ponds,  lakes,  slow  streams. 

Flowering  Season — June — September. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  westward  to  the 
Mississippi. 

Sumptuous  queen  of  our  native  aquatic  plants,  of  the  royal 
family  to  which  the  gigantic  Victoria  regia  of  Brazil  belongs, 
and  all  the  lovely  rose,  lavender,  blue,  and  golden  exotic  water 
lilies  in  the  fountains  of  our  city  parks,  to  her  man,  beast,  and  in- 
sect pay  grateful  homage.  In  Egypt,  India,  China,  Japan,  Persia, 
and  Asiatic  Russia,  how  many  millions  have  bent  their  heads  in 
adoration  of  her  relative  the  sacred  lotus  !  From  its  centre  Brahma 
came  forth  ;  Buddha,  too,  whose  symbol  is  $e  lotus,  first  ap- 
peared floating  on  the  mystic  flower  (Nelumbo  nelttmbo,  formerly 
Nelumbium  speciosum).  Happily  the  lovely  pink  or  white  "sa- 
cred bean"  or  *' rose-lily"  of  the  Nile,  often  cultivated  here,  has 
been  successfully  naturalized  in  ponds  about  Bordentown,  New 
Jersey,  and  maybe  elsewhere.  If  he  who  planteth  a  tree  is  greater 
than  he  who  taketh  a  city,  that  man  should  be  canonized  who 
introduces  the  magnificent  wild  flowers  of  foreign  lands  to  our 
area  of  Nature's  garden. 

Now,  cultivation  of  our  native  water  lilies  and  all  their  hardy 
kin,  like  charity,  begins  at  home.  Their  culture  in  tubs,  casks, 
or  fountains  on  the  lawn,  is  so  very  simple  a  matter,  and  the  flowers 
bloom  so  freely,  every  garden  should  have  a  corner  for  aquatic 
plants.  Secure  the  water-lily  roots  as  early  in  the  spring  as  possi- 
ble, and  barely  cover  them  with  good  rich  loam  or  muck  spread 
over  the  bottom  of  the  sunken  tub  to  a  depth  of  six  or  eight  inches. 
After  it  has  been  filled  with  water,  and  replenished  from  time  to 
time  to  make  good  the  loss  by  evaporation,  the  water  garden 
needs  no  attention  until  autumn.  Then  the  tub  should  be  drained, 
and  removed  to  a  cellar,  or  it  may  be  covered  over  with  a  thick 
mattress  of  dry  leaves  to  protect  from  hard  freezing.  In  their 
natural  haunts,  water  lilies  sink  to  the  bottom,  where  the  water  is 
warmest  in  winter.  Possibly  the  seed  is  ripened  below  the  surface 
for  the  same  reason.  At  no  time  should  the  crown  of  the  culti- 
vated plant  be  lower  than  two  feet  below  the  water.  If  a  num- 
ber of  species  are  grown,  it  is  best  to  plant  each  kind  in  a  separate 
basket,  sunk  in  the  shallow  tub,  to  prevent  the  roots  from  growing 
together,  as  well  as  to  obtain  more  effective  decoration.  Charm- 
ing results  may  be  obtained  with  small  outlay  of  either  money  or 
time.  Nothing  brings  more  birds  about  the  house  than  one  of 

174 


SWEET-SCENTED  WHITE  WATER  LILY. 
(Castalia  odorata.) 


White  and  Greenish 

these  water  gardens,  that  serves  at  once  as  drinking  fountain  and 
bath  to  our  not  over-squeamish  feathered  neighbors.  The  num- 
ber of  insects  these  destroy,  not  to  mention  the  joy  of  their  pres- 
ence, would  alone  compensate  the  householder  of  economic  bent 
for  the  cost  of  a  shallow  concrete  tank. 

Opening  some  time  after  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  white 
water  lily  spreads  its  many-petalled,  deliciously  fragrant,  golden- 
centered  chalice  to  welcome  the  late-flying  bees  and  flower  flies, 
the  chief  pollinators.  Beetles,  "  skippers,"  and  many  other  crea- 
tures on  wings  alight  too.  "  I  have  named  two  species  of  bees 
(Halictus  nelumbonis  and  Prosopis  nelumbonis)  on  account  of 
their  close  economic  relation  to  these  flowers,"  says  Professor 
Robertson,  who  has  captured  over  two  hundred  and  fifty  species 
of  bees  near  his  home  in  Carlinville,  Illinois,  and  described  nearly  a 
third  of  them  as  new.  Linnaeus,  no  doubt  the  first  to  conceive  the 
pretty  idea  of  making  a  floral  clock,  drew  up  a  list  of  blossoms 
whose  times  of  opening  and  closing  marked  the  hours  on  its  face; 
but  even  Linnseus  failed  to  understand  that  the  flight  of  insects 
is  the  mainspring  on  which  flowers  depend  to  set  the  mechanism 
going.  In  spite  of  its  whiteness  and  fragrance,  the  water  lily  re- 
quires no  help  from  night-flying  insects  in  getting  its  pollen  trans- 
ferred; therefore,  when  the  bees  and  flies  rest  from  their  labors 
at  sundown,  it  may  close  the  blinds  of  its  shop,  business  being 
ended  for  the  day. 

"  When  doctors  disagree,  who  shall  decide?"  It  is  contended 
by  one  group  of  scientists  that  the  water  lily,  which  shows  the 
plainest  metamorphosis  of  some  sort,  has  developed  its  stamens 
from  petals — just  the  reverse  of  Nature's  method,  other  botanists 
claim.  A  perfect  flower,  we  know,  may  consist  of  only  a  stamen 
and  a  pistil,  the  essential  organs,  all  other  parts  being  desirable, 
but  of  only  secondary  importance.  Gardeners,  taking  advantage 
of  a  wild  flower's  natural  tendency  to  develop  petals  from  sta- 
mens and  to  become  "  double,"  are  able  to  produce  the  magnifi- 
cent roses  and  chrysanthemums  of  to-day;  and  so  it  would  seem 
that  the  water  lily,  which  may  be  either  self-fertilized  or  cross- 
fertilized  by  pollen-carriers  in  its  present  state  of  development,  is 
looking  to  a  more  ideal  condition  by  increasing  its  attractiveness 
to  insects  as  it  increases  the  number  of  its  petals,  and  by  econo- 
mizing pollen  in  transforming  some  of  the  superfluous  stamens 
into  petals. 

Scientific  speculation,  incited  by  the  very  fumes  of  the  student 
lamp,  may  weary  us  in  winter,  but  just  as  surely  is  it  dispelled 
by  the  fragrance  of  the  lilies  in  June.  Then,  floating  about  in  a 
birch  canoe  among  the  lily-pads,  while  one  envies  the  very 
moose  and  deer  that  may  feed  on  fare  so  dainty  and  spend  their 
lives  amid  scenes  of  such  exquisite  beauty,  one  lets  thought  also 
float  as  idly  as  the  little  clouds  high  overhead. 


White  and  Greenish 


Laurel  or  Small  Magnolia;  Sweet  or  White 
Bay  ;  Swamp  Laurel  or  Sassafras  ;  Beaver- 
tree 

(Magnolia  yirginiana)  Magnolia  family 
(M.  glauca  of  Gray) 

Flowers — White,  2  to  3  in.  across,  globular,  depressed,  deliciously 
fragrant,  solitary  at  ends  of  branches.  Calyx  of  3  petal-like, 
spreading  sepals.  Corolla  of  6  to  12  concave  rounded  petals 
in  rows  ;  stamens  very  numerous,  short,  with  long  anthers; 
carpels  also  numerous,  and  borne  on  the  thick,  green,  elongated 
receptacle.  Trunk  :  4  to  70  ft.  high.  Leaves :  Enfolded  in 
the  bud  by  stipules  that  fall  later  and  leave  rings  around  gradu- 
ally lengthening  branch ;  the  leaves  3  to  6  in.  long  in  maturity, 
broadly  oblong,  thick,  almost  evergreen,  dark  above,  pale 
beneath,  on  short  petioles.  Fruit :  An  oblong,  reddish  pink 
cone,  fleshy,  from  which  the  scarlet  s*eds  hang  by  slender 
threads. 

Preferred  Habitat — Swampy  woods  and  open  swamps. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution — Atlantic  States  from  Massachusetts  southward,  and 
Gulf  States  from  Florida  to  Texas. 

' '  Every  flower  its  own  bo-quet !  "  shouted  by  a  New  York  street 
vender  of  the  lovely  magnolia  blossoms  he  had  just  gathered  from 
the  Jersey  swamps,  emphasized  only  one  of  the  many  claims  they 
have  upon  popular  attention.  Far  and  wide  the  handsome  shrub, 
which  frequently  attains  a  tree's  height,  is  exported  from  its  native 
hiding-places  to  adorn  men's  gardens,  and  there,  where  a  better 
opportunity  to  know  it  at  all  seasons  is  granted,  one  cannot  tell 
which  to  admire  most,  the  dark,  bluish-green  leathery  leaves,  sil- 
very beneath ;  the  cream-white,  deliciously  fragrant  blossoms  that 
turn  pale  apricot  with  age;  or  the  brilliant  fruiting  cone  with  the 
scarlet  seeds  a-dangling.  At  all  seasons  it  is  a  delight.  When 
most  members  of  this  lovely  tribe  confine  themselves  to  warm 
latitudes,  we  especially  prize  the  species  that  naturally  endures 
the  rigorous  climate  of  the  "  stern  New  England  coast." 

Beavers  (when  they  used  to  be  common  in  the  East)  so  often 
made  use  of  the  laurel  magnolia,  not  only  of  the  roots  for  food,  but 
of  the  trunk,  whose  bitter  bark,  white  sap-wood,  and  soft,  reddish- 
brown  heart-wood  were  gnawed  in  constructing  their  huts,  that 
in  some  sections  it  is  still  known  as  the  beaver-tree.  Accord- 
ing to  Delpino,  the  conspicuous,  pollen-laden  magnolia  flowers, 
with  their  easily  accessible  nectar,  attract  beetles  chiefly.  These 
winged  messengers,  entering  the  heart  of  a  newly  opened  blossom, 

176 


White  and  Greenish 

find  shelter  beneath  the  inner  petals  that  form  a  vault  above 
their  heads,  and  warmth  that  may  be  felt  by  the  finger,  and 
abundant  food  ;  consequently  they  remain  long  in  an  asylum  so 
delightful,  or  until  the  expanding  petals  turn  them  out  to  carry  the 
pollen,  with  which  they  have  been  thoroughly  dusted  during  their 
hospitable  entertainment,  to  younger  flowers.  As  the  blossoms 
mature  their  stigmas  in  the  first  stage  and  the  anthers  in  the 
second,  it  follows  the  beetles  must  regularly  cross-fertilize  them 
as  they  fly  from  one  shelter  to  another. 


Gold-thread;  Canker-root 

(Coptis  tr  if  olio)  Crowfoot  family 

Flowers — Small,  white,  solitary,  on  a  slender  scape  3  to  6  in.  high. 
Sepals  5  to  7,  petal-like,  falling  early  ;  petals  5  or  6,  incon- 
spicuous, like  club-shaped  columns  ;  stamens  numerous  ; 
carpels  few,  the  stigmatic  surfaces  curved.  Leaves :  From 
the  base,  long  petioled,  divided  into  3  somewhat  fan-shaped, 
shining,  evergreen,  sharply  toothed  leaflets.  Rootstock: 
Thread-like,  long,  bright  yellow,  wiry,  bitter. 

Preferred  Habitat — Cool  mossy  bogs,  damp  woods. 

Flowering  Season — May — August. 

Distribution — Maryland  and  Minnesota  northward  to  circumpolar 
regions. 

The  shining,  evergreen,  thrice-parted  leaves  with  which  this 
charming  little  plant  carpets  its  retreats  form  the  best  of  back- 
grounds to  set  off  the  fragile,  tiny  white  flowers  that  look  like 
small  wood  anemones.  Why  does  the  gold-thread  choose  to 
dwell  where  bees  and  butterflies,  most  flowers'  best  friends,  rarely 
penetrate?  Doubtless  because  the  cool,  damp  habitat  that  de- 
velops abundant  fungi  also  perfectly  suits  the  fungus  gnats  and 
certain  fungus-feeding  beetles  that  are  its  principal  benefactors. 
'•The  entire  flower  is  constructed  with  reference  to  their  visits," 
says  Mr.  Clarence  Moores  Weed  ;  "the  showy  sepals  attract  their 
attention  ;  the  abnormal  petals  furnish  them  food  ;  the  many 
small  stamens  with  white  anthers  and  white  pollen  furnish  a  sur- 
face to  walk  upon,  and  a  foreground  in  which  the  yellow  nectar- 
cups  are  distinctly  visible  ;  the  long-spreading  recurved  stigmas 
cover  so  large  a  portion  of  the  blossom  that  it  would  be  difficult 
even  for  one  of  the  tiny  visitors  to  take  many  steps  without  con- 
tact with  one  of  them."  On  a  sunny  June  day  the  lens  usually 
reveals  at  least  one  tiny  gnat  making  his  way  from  one  club- 
shaped  petal  to  another — for  the  insignificant  petals  are  mere  nec- 
taries— and  transferring  pollen  from  flower  to  flower. 

Dig  up  a  plant,  and  the  fine  tangled,  yellow  roots  tell  why  it 

12  I// 


White  and  Greenish 

was  given  its  name.  In  the  good  old  days  when  decoctions  of 
any  herb  that  was  particularly  nauseous  were  swallowed  in  the 
simple  faith  that  virtue  resided  in  them  in  proportion  to  their  re- 
volting taste,  the  gold-thread's  bitter  roots  furnished  a  tea  much 
valued  as  a  spring  tonic  and  as  a  cure  for  ulcerated  throats  and 
canker-sore  mouths  of  helpless  children. 


White   Baneberry 

(Actaea  alba)  Crowfoot  family 

Flowers — Small,  white,  in  a  terminal  oblong  raceme.  Calyx  of 
3  to  5  petal-like,  early-falling  sepals  ;  petals  very  small,  4  to 
10,  spatulate,  clawed  ;  stamens  white,  numerous,  longer  than 
petals  ;  i  pistil  with  a  broad  stigma.  Stem:  Erect,  bushy,  i 
to  2  ft.  high.  Leaves:  Twice  or  thrice  compounded  of 
sharply  toothed  and  pointed,  sometimes  lobed,  leaflets,  peti- 
oled.  Fruit:  Clusters  of  poisonous  oval  white  berries  with 
dark  purple  spot  on  end,  formed  from  the  pistils.  Both 
pedicels  and  peduncles  much  thickened  and  often  red  after 
fruiting. 

Preferred  Habitat — Cool,  shady,  moist  woods. 

Flowering  Season — April — June. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Georgia  and  far  West. 

However  insignificant  the  short  fuzzy  clusters  of  flowers 
lifted  by  this  bushy  little  plant,  we  cannot  fail  to  name  it  after  it 
has  set  those  curious  white  berries  with  a  dark  spot  on  the  end, 
which  Mrs.  Starr  Dana  graphically  compares  to  "the  china  eyes 
that  small  children  occasionally  manage  to  gouge  from  their  dolls' 
heads."  For  generations  they  have  been  called  "doll's  eyes"  in 
Massachusetts.  Especially  after  these  poisonous  berries  fully 
ripen  and  the  rigid  stems  which  bear  them  thicken  and  redden,  we 
cannot  fail  to  notice  them.  As  the  sepals  fall  early,  the  white 
stamens  and  stigmas  are  the  most  conspicuous  parts  of  the 
flowers.  A  cluster  opening  its  blossoms  almost  simultaneously, 
the  plant's  only  hope  of  cross-fertilization  lies  in  the  expectation 
that  the  small  female  bees  (Halictus)  which  come  for  pollen — no 
nectar  being  secreted — will  leave  some  brought  from  another 
flower  on  the  stigma  as  they  enter,  and  before  collecting  a  fresh 
supply.  The  time  elapsing  between  the  maturity  of  the  stigmas 
and" the  anthers  is  barely  perceptible  ;  nevertheless  there  is  a  ten- 
dency toward  the  former  maturing  first. 

The  Red  Baneberry,  Cohosh,  or  Herb-Christopher  (A.  rubra} 
— A.  spicata,  var.  rubra  of  Gray — a  more  common  species  north- 
ward, although  with  a  range,  habit,  and  aspect  similar  to  the  pre- 
ceding, may  be  known  by  its  more  ovoid  raceme  of  feathery  white 

178 


White  and  Greenish 

flowers,  its  less  sharply  pointed  leaves,  and,  above  all,  by  its  rigid 
clusters  of  oval  red  berries  on  slender  pedicels,  so  conspicuous  in 
the  woods  of  late  summer. 


Black  Cohosh ;   Black   Snakeroot;   Tall    Bug- 
bane 

(Cimicifuga  racemosa)  Crowfoot  family 

Flowers — Fetid,  feathery,  white,  in  an  elongated  wand-like  raceme, 
6  in.  to  2  ft.  long,  at  the  end  of  a  stem  3  to  8  ft.  high.  Sepals 
petal-like,  falling  early  ;  4  to  8  small  stamen-like  petals  2-cleft  • 
stamens  very  numerous,  with  long  filaments  ;  i  or  2  sessile 
pistils  with  broad  stigmas.  Leaves :  Alternate,  on  long  peti- 
oles, thrice  compounded  of  oblong,  deeply  toothed  or  cleft 
leaflets,  the  end  leaflet  often  again  compound.  Fruit:  Dry 
oval  pods,  their  seeds  in  2  rows. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Rich  woods  and  woodland  borders,  hillsides. 

Flowering  Season — June — August. 

Distribution — Maine  to  Georgia,  and  westward  from  Ontario  to 
Missouri. 

Tall  white  rockets,  shooting  upward  from  a  mass  of  large 
handsome  leaves  in  some  heavily  shaded  midsummer  woodland 
border,  cannot  fail  to  impress  themselves  through  more  than  one 
sense,  for  their  odor  is  as  disagreeable  as  the  fleecy  white  blossoms 
are  striking.  Obviously  such  flowers  would  be  most  attractive 
to  the  carrion  and  meat  flies.  Cimicifuga,  meaning  to  drive  away 
bugs,  and  the  old  folk-name  of  bugbane  testify  to  a  degree  of  of- 
fensiveness  to  other  insects,  where  the  flies'  enjoyment  begins. 
As  these  are  the  only  insects  one  is  likely  to  see  about  the  fleecy 
wands,  doubtless  they  are  their  benefactors.  The  countless  sta- 
mens which  feed  them  generously  with  pollen  willingly  left  for 
them  alone  must  also  dust  them  well  as  they  crawl  about  before 
flying  to  another  fetid  lunch.  (Illustration,  p  154.) 

The  close  kinship  with  the  baneberries  is  detected  at  once  on 
examining  one  of  these  flowers.  Were  the  vigorous  plant  less 
offensive  to  the  nostrils,  many  a  garden  would  be  proud  to  own 
so  decorative  an  addition  to  the  shrubbery  border. 


Wood  Anemone;   Wind  Flower 

(Anemone  quinquefolia)  Crowfoot  family 

Ftowers — Solitary,  about   I   in.  broad,  white  or  delicately  tinted 
with  blue  or  pink  outside.     Calyx  of  4  to  9  oval,  petal-like 
sepals  ;  no  petals  ;  stamens  and  carpels  numerous,  of  indefinite 
179 


White  and  Greenish 

number.  Stem:  Slender,  4  to  9  in.  high,  from  horizontal 
elongated  rootstock.  Leaves:  On  slender  petioles,  in  a  whorl 
of  3  to  5  below  the  flower,  each  leaf  divided  into  3  to  5  vari- 
ously cut  and  lobed  parts  ;  also  a  late-appearing  leaf  from 
the  base. 

Preferred  Habitat — Woodlands,  hillsides,  light  soil,  partial  shade. 

Flowering  Season — April — June. 

Distribution — Canada  and  United  States,  south  to  Georgia,  west  to 
Rocky  Mountains. 

According  to  one  poetical  Greek  tradition,  Anemos,  the  wind, 
employs  these  exquisitely  delicate  little  star-like  namesakes  as 
heralds  of  his  coming  in  early  spring,  while  woods  and  hillsides 
still  lack  foliage  to  break  his  gust's  rude  force.  Pliny  declared  that 
only  the  wind  could  open  anemones  !  Another  legend  utilized  by 
countless  poets  pictures  Venus  wandering  through  the  forests 
grief-stricken  over  the  death  of  her  youthful  lover. 

"  Alas,  the  Paphian  !  fair  Adonis  slain  ! 
Tears  plenteous  as  his  blood  she  pours  amain  ; 
But  gentle  flowers  are  bom  and  bloom  around 
From  every  drop  that  falls  upon  4he  ground  : 
Where  streams  his  blood,  there  blushing  springs  the  rose  ; 
And  where  a  tear  has  dropped,  a  wind-flower  blows." 

Indeed,  in  reading  the  poets  ancient  and  modern  for  references 
to  this  favorite  blossom,  one  realizes  as  never  before  the  signifi- 
cance of  an  anthology,  literally  a  flower  gathering. 

But  it  is  chiefly  the  European  anemone  that  is  extolled  by  the 
poets.  Nevertheless  pur  more  slender,  fragile,  paler-leaved,  and 
smaller-flowered  species,  known,  strange  to  say,  by  the  same  sci- 
entific name,  possesses  the  greater  charm.  Doctors,  with  more 
prosaic  eyes  than  the  poets,  find  acrid  and  dangerous  juices  in  the 
anemone  and  its  kin.  Certain  European  peasants  will  run  past  a 
colony  of  these  pure  innocent  blossoms  in  the  belief  that  the  very 
air  is  tainted  by  them.  Yet  the  Romans  ceremonially  picked  the 
first  anemone  of  the  year,  with  an  incantation  supposed  to  guard 
them  against  fever.  The  identical  plant  that  blooms  in  our  woods, 
which  may  be  found  also  in  Asia,  is  planted  on  graves  by  the 
Chinese,  who  call  it  the  "  death  flower." 

To  leave  legend  and  folk  lore,  the  practical  scientist  sees  in 
the  anemone,  trembling  and  bending  before  the  wind,  a  perfect 
adaptation  to  its  environment.  Anchored  in  the  light  soil  by  a 
horizontal  rootstock  ;  furnished  with  a  stem  so  slender  and  pliable 
no  blast  can  break  it ;  its  pretty  leaves  whorled  where  they  form  a 
background  to  set  off  the  fragile  beauty  of  the  solitary  flower  above 
them  ;  a  corolla  economically  dispensed  with,  since  the  white 
sepals  are  made  to  do  the  advertising  for  insects;  the  slightly 
nodding  attitude  of  the  blossom  in  cloudy  weather.that  the  stigmas 
may  be  in  the  line  of  the  fall  of  pollen  jarred  out  by  the  wind  in 

1 80 


White  and  Greenish 

case  visitors  seeking  pollen  fail  to  bring  any  from  other  anemones — 
all  these  features  teach  that  every  plant  is  what  it  is  for  excellent 
reasons  of  its  own  ;  that  it  is  a  sentient  being,  not  to  be  admired 
for  superficial  beauty  merely,  but  also  for  those  same  traits  which 
operate  in  the  human  race,  making  it  the  most  interesting  of  studies. 

Note  the  clusters  of  tuberous  dahlia-like  roots,  the  whorl  of 
thin  three-lobed  rounded  leaflets  on  long,  fine  petioles  imme- 
diately below  the  smaller  pure  white  or  pinkish  flowers  usually 
growing  in  loose  clusters,  to  distinguish  the  more  common  Rue- 
Anemone  (Syndesmon  thalictroides) — Thalictrum  anemonoides  of 
Gray — from  its  cousin  the  solitary  flowered  wood  or  true  anemone. 
Generally  there  are  three  blossoms  of  the  rue-anemone  to  a  clus- 
ter, the  central  one  opening  first,  the  side  ones  only  after  it  has 
developed  its  stamens  and  pistils  to  prolong  the  season  of  bloom 
and  encourage  cross-pollination  by  insects.  In  the  eastern  half 
of  the  United  States,  and  less  abundantly  in  Canada,  these  are 
among  the  most  familiar  spring  wild  flowers.  Pick  them  and 
they  soon  wilt  miserably  ;  lift  the  plants  early,  with  a  good  ball 
of  soil  about  the  roots,  and  they  will  unfold  their  fragile  blossoms 
indoors,  bringing  with  them  something  of  the  unspeakable  charm 
of  their  native  woods  and  hillsides  just  waking  into  life. 

The  Tall  or  Summer  Anemone  (A.  Virginiana),  called  also 
Thimble-weed  from  its  oblong,  thimble-like  fruit-head,  bears 
solitary,  inconspicuous  greenish  or  white  flowers,  often  over  an 
inch  across,  and  generally  with  five  rounded  sepals,  on  erect, 
long  stalks  from  June  to  August.  Contrasted  with  the  dainty 
tremulous  little  spring  anemones,  it  is  a  rather  coarse,  stiff,  hairy 
plant  two  or  three  feet  tall.  Its  preference  is  for  woodlands, 
whereas  another  summer  bloomer,  the  Long-fruited  Anemone 
(A.  cylindrica) ,  a  smaller,  silky-hairy  plant  often  confused  with 
it,  chooses  open  places,  fields,  and  roadsides.  The  leaves  of  the 
thimble-weed,  which  are  set  in  a  whorl  high  up  on  the  stem, 
and  also  spring  from  the  root,  after  the  true  anemone  fashion,  are 
long  petioled,  three-parted,  the  divisions  variously  cut,  lobed, 
and  saw-edged.  The  flower-stalks  which  spring  from  this  whorl 
continue  to  rise  throughout  the  summer.  The  first,  or  middle  of 
these  peduncles,  lacks  leaves  ;  later  ones  bear  two  leaves  in  the 
middle,  from  which  more  flower-stalks  arise,  and  so  on. 

Virgin's  Bower;  Virginia  Clematis ;  Traveller's 
Joy;  Old  Man's  Beard 

(Clematis  Virginiana)  Crowfoot  family 

Flmvers — White  and  greenish,  about  i  in.  across  or  less,  in  loose 
clusters  from  the  axils.     Calyx  of  4  or  5  petal-like  sepals  ;  no 
181 


White  and  Greenish 

petals  ;  stamens  and  pistils  numerous,  of  indefinite  number  ; 
the  staminate  and  pistillate  flowers  on  separate  plants  ;  the 
styles  feathery,  and  over  i  in.  long  in  fruit.  Stem :  Climbing, 
slightly  woody.  Leaves:  Opposite,  slender  petioled,  divided 
into  3  pointed  and  widely  toothed  or  lobed  leaflets. 

Preferred  Habitat — Climbing  over  woodland  borders,  thickets, 
roadside  shrubbery,  fences-,  and  walls  ;  rich,  moist  soil. 

Flowering  Season — July — September. 

Distribution — Georgia  and  Kansas  northward  ;  less  common  be- 
yond the  Canadian  border. 

Fleecy  white  clusters  of  wild  clematis,  festooning  woodland 
and  roadside  thickets,  vary  so  much  in  size  and  attractiveness 
that  one  cannot  but  investigate  the  reason.  Examination  shows 
that  comparatively  few  of  the  flowers  are  perfect,  that  is,  few 
contain  both  stamens  and  pistils  ;  the  great  majority  are  either 
male — the  more  showy  ones — or  female — the  ones  so  conspicuous 
in  fruit — and,  like  Quakers  in  meeting,  the  sexes  are  divided. 
The  plant  that  bears  staminate  blossoms  produces  none  that  are 
pistillate,  and  vice  versa — another  macyellous  protection  against 
that  horror  of  the  floral  race,  self-fertilization,  and  a  case  of  abso- 
lute dependence  on  insect  help  to  perpetuate  the  race.  Since  the 
clematis  blooms  while  insect  life  is  at  its  height,  and  after  most, 
if  not  all,  of  the  Ranunculaceae  have  withdrawn  from  the  compe- 
tition for  trade  ;  moreover,  since  its  white  color,  so  conspicuous 
in  shady  retreats,  and  its  accessible  nectar  attract  hosts  of  flies  and 
the  small,  short-tongued  bees  chiefly,  that  are  compelled  to  work 
for  it  by  transferring  pollen  while  they  feed,  it  goes  without  saying 
that  the  vine  is  a  winner  in  life's  race. 

Charles  Darwin,  who  made  so  many  interesting  studies  of  the 
power  of  movement  in  various  plants,  devoted  special  attention 
to  the  clematis  clan,  of  which  about  one  hundred  species  exist ; 
but,  alas  !  none  to  our  traveller's  joy,  that  flings  out  the  right  hand 
of  good  fellowship  to  every  twig  within  reach,  winds  about  the 
sapling  in  brotherly  embrace,  drapes  a  festoon  of  flowers  from 
shrub  to  shrub,  hooks  even  its  sensitive  leafstalks  over  any  avail- 
able support  as  it  clambers  and  riots  on  its  lovely  way.  By  rub- 
bing the  footstalk  of  a  young  leaf  with  a  tv/ig  a  few  times  on  any 
side,  Darwin  found  a  clematis  leaf  would  bend  to  that  side  in  the 
course  of  a  few  hours,  but  return  to  the  straight  again  if  nothing 
remained  on  which  to  hook  itself.  "To  show  how  sensitive  the 
young  petioles  are,"  he  wrote,  "  I  may  mention  that  I  just  touched 
the  undersides  of  two  with  a  little  water  color  which,  when  dry, 
formed  an  excessively  thin  and  minute  crust ;  but  this  sufficed  in 
twenty-four  hours  to"  cause  both  to  bend  downwards." 

In  early  autumn,  when  the  long,  silvery,  decorative  plumes 
attached  to  a  ball  of  seeds  form  feathery,  hoary  masses  even  more 
fascinating  than  the  flower  clusters,  the  name  of  old  man's  beard 

182 


White  and  Greenish 

is  most  suggestive.  These  seeds  never  open,  but,  when  ripe, 
each  is  borne  on  the  autumn  gales,  to  sink  into  the  first  moist, 
springy  resting  place. 

The  English  counterpart  of  our  virgin's  bower  is  fragrant. 

Tall  Meadow-Rue 

( Thalictrum  polygamim)  Crowfoot  family 
(T.  Cornuti  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Greenish  white,  the  calyx  of  4  or  5  sepals,  falling  early; 
no  petals  ;  numerous  white,  thread-like,  green-tipped  stamens, 
spreading  in  feathery  tufts,  borne  in  large,  loose,  compound 
terminal  clusters  i  ft.  long  or  more.  Stem:  Stout,  erect,  3 
to  1 1  ft.  high,  leafy,  branching  above.  Leaves :  Arranged  in 
threes,  compounded  of  various  shaped  leaflets,  the  lobes 
pointed  or  rounded,  dark  above,  paler  below. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Open  sunny  swamps,  beside  sluggish  water, 
low  meadows. 

Flowering  Season—} uly — September. 

Distribution — Quebec  to  Florida,  v/estward  to  Ohio. 

Masses  of  these  soft,  feathery  flowers,  towering  above  the 
ranker  growth  of  midsummer,  possess  an  unseasonable,  ethereal, 
chaste,  spring-like  beauty.  On  some  plants  the  flowers  are  white 
and  exquisite  ;  others,  again,  are  dull  and  coarser.  Why  is  this  ? 
Because  these  are  what  botanists  term  polygamous  flowers,  /.  e., 
some  of  them  are  perfect,  containing  both  stamens  and  pistils; 
some  are  male  only  ;  others,  again,  are  female.  Naturally  an  in- 
sect, like  ourselves,  is  first  attracted  to  the  more  beautiful  male 
blossoms,  the  pollen  bearers,  and  of  course  it  transfers  the  vitalizing 
dust  to  the  dull  pistillate  flowers  visited  later.  But  the  meadow- 
rue,  which  produces  a  superabundance  of  very  light,  dry  pollen, 
easily  blown  by  the  wind,  is  often  fertilized  through  that  agent 
also,  just  as  grasses,  plantains,  sedges,  birches,  oaks,  pines,  and 
all  cone-bearing  trees  are.  As  might  be  expected,  a  plant  which 
has  not  yet  ascended  the  evolutionary  scale  high  enough  to  econo- 
mize its  pollen  by  making  insects  carry  it  invariably,  overtops  sur- 
rounding vegetation  to  take  advantage  of  every  breeze  that  blows. 

The  Early  Meadow-rue  (T.  dioicum),  found  blooming  in 
open,  rocky  woods  during  April  and  May,  from  Alabama  north- 
ward to  Labrador,  and  westward  to  Missouri,  grows  only  one  or 
two  feet  high,  and,  like  its  tall  sister,  bears  fleecy,  greenish-white 
flowers,  the  staminate  and  the  pistillate  ones  on  different  plants. 
These  produce  no  nectar  ;  they  offer  no  showy  corolla  advertise- 
ment to  catch  the  eye  of  passing  insects  ;  yet  so  abundant  is  the 

183 


White  and  Greenish 

dry  pollen  produced  by  the  male  blossoms  that  insects  which 
come  to  feed  on  it  must  occasionally  transfer  some,  albeit  this 
primitive  genus  still  depends  largely  on  the  wind.  Not  its  flower, 
but  the  exquisite  foliage  resembling  sprays  of  a  robust  maiden- 
hair fern,  is  this  meadow-rue's  chief  charm. 

The  Purplish  Meadow-rue  ( T.  pur  pur  asc  ens),  so  like  the  tall 
species  in  general  characteristics  that  one  cannot  tell  the  dried  and 
pressed  specimens  of  these  variable  plants  apart,  is  easily  named 
afield  by  the  purplish  tinge  of  its  green  polygamous  flowers.  Often 
its  stems  show  color  also.  Sometimes,  not  always,  the  plant  is 
downy,  and  the  comparatively  thick  leaflets,  which  are  dark  green 
above,  are  waxy  beneath.  We  look  for  this  meadow-rue  in  copses 
and  woodlands  from  Northern  Canada  to  Florida,  and  far  west- 
ward after  the  early  meadow-rue  has  flowered,  but  before  the  tall 
one  spreads  its  fleecy  panicles.  Quite  as  decorative  as  the  flower 
clusters  are  the  compound  seed-bearing  stars. 


Twin-leaf;  Rheumatism  Root 

(Jeffersonia  diphylld)  Barberry  family 

Flowers — White,  i  in.  broad,  solitary,  on  a  naked  scape  about  7  in. 
high  in  flower,  more  than  twice  as  tall  in  fruit.  Calyx  of  4 
petal-like  sepals  falling  early  ;  8  longer,  flat,  oblong  petals  ; 
8  stamens  ;  i  pistil.  Leaves :  From  the  root,  long-petioled, 
rounded,  palmately  veined,  cleft  into  2  divisions.  Fruit:  A 
leathery,  many-seeded  capsule,  slit  horizontally. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rich  shady  woods. 

Flowering  Season — April — May. 

Distribution— New  York  to  Virginia,  west  to  Ontario  and  Tennessee. 

Like  many  little  darkies  in  the  United  States,  this  low  plant 
was  named  for  Thomas  Jefferson.  One  suspects  from  a  glance 
at  its  solitary  white  flower  and  deeply  divided  leaves  that  it  is  not 
far  removed  from  the  May  apple,  which  is  characterized  by  even 
greater  Jeffersonian  simplicity  of  habit,  although  separated  into 
another  genus. 


May  Apple;    Hog   Apple;    Mandrake;    Wild 
Lemon 

{Podophyllum  peltatum)  Barberry  family 

Flowers — White,  solitary,  large,   unpleasantly  scented,  nodding 
from  the  fork  between  a  pair  of  terminal  leaves.     Calyx  of  < 
184 


White  and  Greenish 

short-lived  sepals  ;  6  to  9  rounded,  flat  petals  ;  stamens  as 
many  as  petals  or  (usually)  twice  as  many  ;  i  pistil,  with  a 
thick  stigma.  Stem :  i  to  i  %  ft.  high,  from  a  long,  running 
rootstock.  Leaves  :  Of  flowerless  stems  (from  separate  root- 
stock),  solitary,  on  a  long  petiole  from  base,  nearly  i  ft.  across, 
rounded,  centrally  peltate,  umbrella  fashion,  5  to  7  lobed,  the 
lobes  2-cleft,  dark  above,  light  green  below.  Leaves  of 
flowering  stem  i  to  3,  usually  a  pair,  similar  to  others,  but 
smaller.  Fruit:  A  fleshy,  yellowish,  egg-shaped,  many- 
seeded  fruit  about  2  in.  long. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rich,  moist  woods. 

Flowering  Season — May. 

Distribution — Quebec  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  westward  to  Minne- 
sota and  Texas. 

In  giving  this  plant  its  abridged  scientific  name,  Linnaeus 
seemed  to  see  in  its  leaves  a  resemblance  to  a  duck's  foot  (Ana- 
podophyllum)  ;  but  equally  imaginative  American  children  call 
them  green  umbrellas,  and  declare  they  unfurl  only  during  April 
showers.  In  July,  a  sweetly  mawkish,  many-seeded  fruit,  resem- 
bling a  yellow  egg-tomato,  delights  the  uncritical  palates  of  little 
people,  who  should  be  warned,  however,  against  putting  any  other 
part  of  this  poisonous,  drastic  plant  in  their  mouths.  Physicians 
best  know  its  uses.  Dr.  Asa  uray's  statement  about  the  harmless 
fruit  "eaten  by  pigs  and  boys"  aroused  William  Hamilton  Gib- 
son, who  had  happy  memories  of  his  own  youthful  gorges  on  any- 
thing edible  that  grew.  "Think  of  it,  boys  !  "  he  wrote  ;  "and 
think  of  what  else  he  says  of  it :  '  Ovary  ovoid,  stigma  sessile,  un- 
dulate, seeds  covering  the  lateral  placenta  each  enclosed  in  an  aril.' 
Now  it  may  be  safe  for  pigs  and  billygoats  to  tackle  such  a  com- 
pound as  that,  but  we  boys  all  like  to  know  what  we  are  eating,  and 
I  cannot  but  feel  that  the  public  health  officials  of  every  township 
should  require  this  formula  of  Dr.  Gray's  to  be  printed  on  every  one 
of  these  big  loaded  pills,  if  that  is  what  they  are  really  made  of." 


Bloodroot;  Indian  Paint;  Red  Puccoon 

(Sanguinaria  Canadensis)  Poppy  family 

Flowers — Pure  white,  rarely  pinkish,  golden  centred,  i  to  i  >£  in. 
across,  solitary,  at  end  of  a  smooth  naked  scape  6  to  14 
in.  tall.  Calyx  of  2  short-lived  sepals  ;  corolla  of  8  to  12 
oblong  petals,  early  falling  ;  stamens  numerous  ;  i  short 
pistil  composed  of  2  carpels.  Leaves:  Rounded,  deeply  and 
palmately  lobed,  the  5  to  9  lobes  often  cleft.  Rootstock: 
Thick,  several  inches  long,  with  fibrous  roots,  and  filled  with 
orange-red  juice. 

185 


White  and  Greenish 

Preferred  Habitat— -Rich  woods  and  borders  ;  low  hillsides. 

Flowering  Season — April — May. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Florida,  westward  to  Nebraska. 

Snugly  protected  in  a  papery  sheath  enfolding  a  silvery-green 
leaf-cloak,  the  solitary  erect  bud  slowly  rises  from  its  embrace, 
sheds  its  sepals,  expands  into  an  immaculate  golden-centred  blos- 
som that,  poppy-like,  offers  but  a  glimpse  of  its  fleeting  loveliness 
ere  it  drops  its  snow-white  petals  and  is  gone.  But  were  the 
flowers  less  ephemeral,  were  we  always  certain  of  hitting  upon 
the  very  time  its  colonies  are  starring  the  woodland,  would  it 
have  so  great  a  charm  ?  Here  to-day,  if  there  comes  a  sudden 
burst  of  warm  sunshine ;  gone  to-morrow,  if  the  spring  winds, 
rushing  through  the  nearly  leafless  woods,  are  too  rude  to  the  fragile 
petals — no  blossom  has  a  more  evanescent  beauty,  none  is  more 
lovely.  After  its  charms  have  been  displayed,  up  rises  the  circular 
leaf-cloak  on  its  smooth  reddish  petiole,  unrolls,  and  at  length 
overtops  the  narrow,  oblong  seed-vessel.  Wound  the  plant  in 
any  part,  and  there  flows  an  orange-rejl  juice,  which  old-fashioned 
mothers  used  to  drop  on  lumps  of  sugar  and  administer  when 
their  children  had  coughs  and  colds.  As  this  fluid  stains  what- 
ever it  touches — hence  its  value  to  the  Indians  as  a  war-paint- 
one  should  be  careful  in  picking  the  flower.  It  has  no  value  for 
cutting,  of  course  ;  but  in  some  rich,  shady  corner  of  the  garden,  a 
clump  of  the  plants  v/ill  thrive  and  bring  a  suggestive  picture  of 
the  spring  woods  to  our  very  doors.  It  will  be  noticed  that  plants 
having  thick  rootstocks,  corms,  and  bulbs,  which  store  up  food 
during  the  winter,  like  the  irises,  Solomon's  seals,  bloodroot, 
adder's  tongue,  and  crocuses,  are  prepared  to  rush  into  blossom  far 
earlier  in  spring  than  fibrous-rooted  species  that  must  accumulate 
nourishment  after  the  season  has  opened. 

A  newly  opened  flower  which  is  in  the  female  stage  has  its 
anthers  tightly  closed,  and  pollen  must  therefore  be  carried  from 
distinct  plants  by  the  short-tongued  bees  and  flies  out  collecting 
it.  No  nectar  rewards  their  search,  although  they  alight  on  young 
blossoms  in  the  expectation  of  finding  some  food,  and  so  cross- 
fertilize  them.  Late  in  the  afternoon  the  petals,  which  have  been 
in  a  showy  horizontal  position  during  the  day,  rise  to  the  perpen- 
dicular before  closing  to  protect  the  flower's  precious  contents  for 
the  morrow's  visitors.  In  the  blossom's  staminate  stage,  abundant 
pollen  is  collected  by  the  hive  bees  chiefly ;  but  those  of  the  Halictus 
tribe,  the  mining  bees  and  the  Syrphidce  flies  also  pay  profitable 
visits.  Inasmuch  as  the  hive  bee  is  a  naturalized  foreigner,  not  a 
native,  the  bloodroot  probably  depended  upon  the  other  little  bees 
to  fertilize  it  before  her  arrival.  For  ages  this  bee's  small  relatives 
and  the  flowers  they  depended  upon  developed  side  by  side, 
adapting  themselves  to  each  other's  wants.  Now  along  comes 
an  immigrant  and  profits  by  their  centuries  of  effort. 

186 


. 


White  and  Greenish 

Dutchman's    Breeches;   White    Hearts;    Sol- 
dier's Cap;  Ear-drops 

(Bicuculla  Cucullaria}  Poppy  family 
(Dicentra  cucullaria  of  Gray) 

Flowers — White,  tipped  with  yellow,  nodding  in  a  I -sided  ra- 
ceme. Two  scale-like  sepals  ;  corolla  of  4  petals,  in  2  pairs, 
somewhat  cohering  into  a  heart-shaped,  flattened,  irregular 
flower,  the  outer  pair  of  petals  extended  into  2  widely  spread 
spurs,  the  small  inner  petals  united  above ;  6  stamens  in  2  sets ; 
style  slender,  with  a  2-lobed  stigma.  Scape  :  5  to  10  in.  high, 
smooth,  from  a  bulbous  root.  Leaves :  Finely  cut,  thrice  com- 
pound, pale  beneath,  on  slender  petioles,  all  from  base. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rich,  rocky  woods. 

Flowering  Season — April — May. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  the  Carolinas,  west  to  Nebraska. 

Rich  leaf  mould,  accumulated  between  crevices  of  rock,  makes 
the  ideal  home  of  this  delicate,  yet  striking,  flower,  coarse-named, 
but  refined  in  all  its  parts.  Consistent  with  the  dainty,  heart- 
shaped  blossoms  that  hang  trembling  along  the  slender  stem  like 
pendants  from  a  lady's  ear,  are  the  finely  dissected,  lace-like  leaves, 
the  whole  plant  repudiating  by  its  femininity  its  most  popular 
name.  It  was  Thoreau  who  observed  that  only  those  plants  which 
require  but  little  light,  and  can  stand  the  drip  of  trees,  prefer  to 
dwell  in  the  woods — plants  which  have  commonly  more  beauty 
in  their  leaves  than  in  their  pale  and  almost  colorless  blossoms. 
Certainly  few  woodland  dwellers  have  more  delicately  beautiful 
foliage  than  the  fumitory  tribe. 

Owing  to  this  flower's  early  season  of  bloom  and  to  the  depth 
of  its  spurs,  in  which  nectar  is  secreted  by  two  long  processes  of 
the  middle  stamens,  only  the  long-tongued  female  bumblebees 
then  flying  are  implied  by  its  curious  formation.  Two  canals  lead- 
ing to  the  sweets  invite  the  visitor  to  thrust  in  her  tongue,  and  as 
she  hangs  from  the  white  heart  and  presses  forward  to  drain  the 
luscious  drops,  first  on  one  side,  then  on  the  other,  her  hairy  un- 
derside necessarily  comes  in  contact  with  the  pollen  of  younger 
flowers  and  with  the  later  maturing  stigmas  of  older  ones,  to 
which  she  carries  it  later.  But,  as  might  be  expected,  this  intel- 
ligent bee  occasionally  nips  holes  through  the  spurs  of  the  flower 
that  makes  dining  so  difficult  for  her — holes  that  lesser  fry  are  not 
slow  to  investigate. 

According  to  the  Rev.  Alexander  S.  Wilson,  bumblebees 
make  holes  with  jagged  edges ;  wasps  make  clean-cut,  circular 
openings ;  and  the  carpenter  bees  cut  slits,  through  which  they 
steal  nectar  from  deep  flowers.  Who  has  tested  this  statement 
about  the  guilty  little  pilferers  on  our  side  of  the  Atlantic  ? 

187 


White  and  Greenish 


Squirrel  Corn 

(Bicuculla  Canadensis]  Poppy  family 

Flowers— Irregular,  greenish  white  tinged  with  rose,  slightly  fra- 
grant, heart-shaped,  with  2  short  rounded  spurs,  over  YT.  in. 
long,  nodding  on  a  slender  scape.  Calyx  of  2  scale-like  sepals ; 
corolla  heart-shaped  at  base,  consisting  of  4  petals  in  2  united 
pairs,  a  prominent  crest  on  tips  of  inner  ones  ;  6  stamens  in 
2 sets  ;  style  with  2-lobed  stigma.  Scape:  Smooth,  6  to  12  in. 
high,  the  rootstock  bearing  many  small,  round,  yellow  tubers 
like  kernels  of  corn.  Leaves :  All  from  root,  delicate,  com- 
pounded of  3  very  finely  dissected  divisions. 

Preferred  Jlafa'tat—Rich,  moist  woods. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Virginia,  and  westward  to  the 
Mississippi. 

Any  one  familiar  with  the  Bleeding-heart  (B.  eximia)  of  old- 
fashioned  gardens,  found  growing  wild  in  the  Alleghanies,  and 
with  the  exquisite  White  Mountain  Fringe  (Adlumia  fungosa) 
often  brought  from  the  woods  to  be  planted  over  shady  trellises,  or 
with  the  Dutchman's  breeches,  need  not  be  told  that  the  little 
squirrel  corn  is  next  of  kin  or  far  removed  from  the  pink  corydalis. 
It  is  not  until  we  dig  up  the  plant  and  look  at  its  roots  that  we  see 
why  it  received  its  name.  A  delicious  perfume  like  hyacinths, 
only  fainter  and  subtler,  rises  from  the  dainty  blossoms. 


Bulbous  or  Spring  Cress 

(Cardamine  bulbosa)  Mustard  family 
(C.  rhomboidea  of  Gray) 

Flowers — White,  about  Yt  in.  across,  clustered  in  a  simple  terminal 
raceme.  Calyx  of  four  sepals  ;  corolla  of  4  petals  in  form  of 
a  cross  ;  6  stamens  ;  i  compound  pistil  with  a  2-lobed  style. 
Stem:  6  to  18  in.  high,  erect,  smooth,  from  a  tuberous  base. 
Leaves:  Basal  ones  rounded,  on  long  petioles;  upper  leaves 
oblong  or  lance-shaped,  toothed  or  entire-edged,  short  peti- 
oled  or  seated  on  stem.  Fruit:  Very  slender,  erect  pods 
about  i  in.  long,  tapering  at  each  end,  tipped  with  a  slender 
style,  the  stigma  prominent;  i  row  of  seeds  in  each  cell,  the 
pods  rapidly  following  flowers  up  the  stem  and  opening  sud- 
denly. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Wet  meadows,  low  ground,  near  springs. 

1 88 


White  and  Green isli 

Flowering  Season — April — June. 

Distribution— Nova  Scotia  to  Florida,  west  to  Minnesota  and  Texas. 

Pretty  masses  of  this  flower,  that  look  like  borders  of  garden 
candytuft  planted  beside  some  trickling  brook,  are  visited,  and 
cross-fertilized  by  small  bees,  of  the  Andrena  and  Halictus  clans 
chiefly.  How  well  the  butterflies  understand  scientific  classifica- 
tion with  instinct  for  their  sure  guide  !  The  caterpillar  of  that 
exquisite  little  white  butterfly  with  a  dark  yellow  triangular  spot 
across  his  wings,  the  fulcate  orange-tip  (Euchloe  genutia),  a  first- 
cousin  of  the  common  small  white  cabbage  butterfly,  feeds  on  this 
plant  and  several  of  its  kin,  knowing  better  than  if  the  books  had 
told  it  so,  that  all  belong  to  the  same  cross-bearing  family.  The 
watery,  biting  juice  in  the  Cruciferae—the  radishes,  nasturtiums, 
cabbage,  peppergrass,  water-cress,  mustards,  and  horseradish — 
by  no  means  protects  them  from  preying  worms  and  caterpillars; 
but  ants,  the  worst  pilferers  of  nectar  extant,  let  them  alone.  Au- 
thorities declare  that  the  chloride  of  potassium  and  iodine  these 
plants  contain  increase  their  food  value  to  mankind. 

The  Purple  Cress  (C.  purpurea),  formerly  counted  a  mere  va- 
riety of  the  preceding,  has  now  been  ranked  as  a  distinct  species. 
Its  purplish-pink  flowers,  found  about  cold,  springy  places  north- 
ward, appear  two  or  three  weeks  earlier  than  those  of  the  white 
spring  cress. 

The  Meadow  Bitter-cress  (or  Cross),  Ladies'  Smock,  or 
Cuckoo-flower  (C.  pratensis),  an  immigrantfrom  Europe  and  Asia 
now  naturalized  here  north  of  New  Jersey  from  coast  to  coast,  lifts 
its  larger  and  more  showy  white  or  purplish-pink  flowers,  that 
stand  well  out  from  the  stem  on  slender  pedicels,  in  loose  clus- 
ters above  watery  low-lying  ground  in  April  and  May. 

"  Lady-smocks  all  silver  white  " 

now  paint  our  meadows  with  delight,  as  they  do  Shakespeare's 
England  ;  but  ours  have  quite  frequently  a  decided  pink  tinge. 
The  light  and  graceful  growth,  and  the  pinnately  divided  foliage, 
give  the  plant  a  special  charm.  In  olden  times,  when  it  was 
counted  a  valuable  remedy  in  hysteria  and  epilepsy,  Linnseus  gave 
it  its  generic  name  Cardamine  from  two  Greek  words  signifying 
heart-strengthening. 

More  bees,  flies,  butterflies,  and  other  insects  visit  the  ladies' 
smock  than  perhaps  any  other  crucifer  found  here,  since  it  has 
showy  flowers  and  so  much  nectar  the  long-persistent  sepals  re- 
quire little  pouches  to  hold  it.  No  wonder  this  plant  has  trium- 
phantly marched  around  the  world,  leaving  its  relatives  that  take 
less  pains  to  woo  and  work  insects  far  behind  in  the  race.  Ow- 
ing to  a  partial  revolution  of  the  tall  stamens  away  from  the  stig- 
mas, a  visitor  in  sipping  nectar  must  brush  off  some  pollen  on  his 

189 


White  and  Greenifh 

head  or  tongue,  although  in  stormy  weather,  when  the  movement 
of  the  stamens  is  incomplete,  seif-pollination  may  occasionally 
occur,  according  to  Muller. 


Two-leaved  Toothwort;   Crinkle-root 

(Dentaria  diphylla)  Mustard  family 

Flowers — White,  about  Y?  in.  across,  in  a  terminal  loose  cluster, 
the  formation  of  each  similar  to  that  of  bulbous  cress.  Stem  : 
8  to  1 5  in.  high.  Rootstock:  Long,  crinkled,  toothed,  fleshy, 
crisp,  edible.  Leaves:  2,  opposite  or  nearly  so,  on  the  stem, 
compounded  of  3  ovate  and  toothed  leaflets  ;  also  larger, 
broader  leaves  on  larger  petioles  from  the  rootstock.  Fruit: 
Flat,  lance-shaped  pods,  i  in.  long  or  over,  tipped  with  the 
slender  style. 

Per/erred  Habitat — Rich  leaf  mould  in  woods,  sometimes  in  thickets 
and  meadows. 

Flowering  Season — May. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  the  Carolinas,  west  to  the  Mississippi. 

Clusters  of  these  pretty,  white,  cross-shaped  flowers,  found 
near  the  bloodroot,  claytonia,  anemones,  and  a  host  of  other  deli- 
cate spring  blossoms,  enter  into  a  short  but  fierce  competition 
with  them  for  the  visits  of  the  small  Andrena  and  Halictus  bees 
then  flying  to  collect  nectar  and  pollen  for  a  generation  still  un- 
born. In  tunnels  underground,  or  in  soft,  partially  decayed  wood, 
each  busy  little  mother  places  the  pellets  of  pollen  and  nectar  paste, 
then  when  her  eggs  have  been  laid  on  the  food  supply  in  separate 
nurseries  and  sealed  up,  she  dies  from  exhaustion,  leaving  her 
grub  progeny  to  eat  its  way  through  the  larva  into  the  chrysalis 
state,  and  finally  into  that  of  a  winged  bee  that  flies  away  to 
liberty.  These  are  the  little  bees  so  constantly  seen  about  willow 
catkins. 

Country  children,  on  their  way  to  school  through  the  woods, 
often  dig  up  the  curious,  long  crisp  root  of  the  toothwort,  which 
tastes  much  like  the  water-cress,  to  eat  with  their  sandwiches  at 
the  noon  recess.  Then,  as  they  examine  the  little  pointed  pro- 
jections on  the  rootstock,  they  see  why  the  plant  received  its 
name. 

Another  toothwort  found  throughout  a  similar  range,  the  Cut- 
leaved  species,  or  Pepper-root  (D.  laciniata),  has  its  equally  edible 
rootstock  scarcely  toothed,  but  rather  constricted  in  places,  giving 
its  little  tubers  the  appearance  of  beads  strung  into  a  necklace.  Its 
white  or  pale  purplish-pink  cross-shaped  flowers,  loosely  clustered 
at  the  end  of  an  unbranched  stem,  rise  by  preference  above  moist 

190 


White  and  Greenish 

ground  in  rich  woods,  often  beside  a  spring,  from  April  to  June — 
a  longer  season  for  wooing  and  working  its  insect  friends  than 
the  two-leaved  toothwort  has  attained  to — hence  it  is  the  com- 
moner plant.  Instead  of  having  two  leaves  on  its  stem,  this 
species  spreads  whorls  of  three  leaves,  thrice  divided,  almost  to 
the  base,  the  divisions  toothed  or  lobed,  and  the  side  ones  some- 
times deeply  cleft.  The  larger,  longer  petioled  leaves  that  rise 
directly  from  the  rootstock  have  scarcely  developed  at  flowering 
time. 


Shepherd's  Purse;   Mother's  Heart 

(Bursa  Bursa-pastoris}  Mustard  family 
(Capsella  Bursa-pastoris  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Small,  white,  in  a  long  loose  raceme,  followed  by  triangu- 
lar and  notched  (somewhat  heart-shaped)  pods,  the  valves 
boat-shaped  and  keeled.  Sepals  and  petals  4  ;  stamens  6  ; 
i  pistil.  Stem:  6  to  18  in.  high,  from  a  deep  root.  Leaves: 
Forming  a  rosette  at  base,  2  to  5  in.  long,  more  or  less  cut 
(pinnatifid),  a  few  pointed,  arrow-shaped  leaves  also  scattered 
along  stem  and  partly  clasping  it. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Fields,  roadsides,  waste  places. 

Flowering^  Season — Almost  throughout  the  year. 

Distribution — Over  nearly  all  parts  of  the  earth. 

From  Europe  this  little  low  plant  found  its  way,  to  become 
the  commonest  of  our  weeds,  so  completing  its  march  around  the 
globe.  At  a  glance  one  knows  it  to  t»e  related  to  the  alyssum  and 
candy-tuft  of  our  gardens,  albeit  a  poor  relation  in  spite  of  its 
vaunted  purses — the  tiny,  heart-shaped,  seed-pods  that  so  rapidly 
succeed  the  flowers.  What  is  the  secret  of  its  successful  march 
over  the  face  of  the  earth  ?  Like  the  equally  triumphant  chick- 
weed,  it  is  easily  satisfied  with  unoccupied  waste  land,  it  avoids 
the  fiercest  competition  for  insect  trade  by  prolonging  its  season 
of  bloom  far  beyond  that  of  any  native  flower,  for  there  is  not  a 
month  in  the  year  when  one  may  not  find  it  even  in  New  England 
in  sheltered  places.  Having  vanquished  in  the  fiercer  struggle  for 
survival  in  the  Old  World,  it  finds  life  here  one  long  holiday;  and 
finally,  by  clustering  a  large  number  of  relatively  small  flowers 
together,  it  attracts  the  insects  that  this  method  of  arrangement 
pleases  best,  the  flies  (Syrphidae  and  Muscidae)  which  cross-fertil- 
ize it  in  fine  weather,  transferring  enough  pollen  from  plant  to  plant 
to  save  the  species  from  degeneracy  through  close  inbreeding. 
However,  the  long  stamens  standing  on  a  level  with  the  stigma 
are  well  calculated  to  self-pollenize  the  flowers,  the  flies  failing 
them. 

191 


White  and  Greenish 


Vernal  Whitlow-grass 

(Draba  verna)  Mustard  family 

Flowers — Very  small,  white,  distant,  growing  on  numerous  scapes 
i  to  5  in.  high  ;  in  formation  each  flower  is  similar  to  all  the 
mustards,  except  that  the  4  petals  are  2-cleft,  destroying  the 
cross-like  effect.  Leaves :  %  to  i  in.  long,  in  a  tuft  or  rosette 
on  the  ground,  oblong  or  spatulate,  covered  with  stiff  hairs. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Waste  lands,  sandy  fields,  and  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — February — May. 

Distribution — Throughout  our  area  ;  naturalized  from  Europe  and 
Asia. 

An  insignificantly  small  plant,  too  common,  however,  to  be 
wholly  ignored.  Although  each  tiny  flower  secretes  four  drops  of 
nectar  between  the  bases  of  the  short  stamens  and  the  long  ones 
next  them,  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  depend  wholly  upon 
insects  to  carry  pollen,  since  there"  is  so  little  else  to  attract  them. 
Therefore  the  anthers  of  the  four  long  stamens  regularly  shed 
directly  upon  the  stigma  below  them,  leaving  to  the  few  visitors, 
the  small  bees  chiefly,  the  transferring  from  flower  to  flower  of 
pollen  from  the  two  short  stamens  which  must  be  touched  if  they 
would  reach  the  nectar.  In  spite  of  the  persistency  with  which 
these  little  blossoms  fertilize  themselves,  they  certainly  increase  at 
a  prodigious  rate  ;  but  how  much  larger  and  more  beautiful  might 
they  not  be  if  they  possessed  more  executive  ability  ! 

A  similar  but  larger  plant,  with  its  hairy  leaves  not  only  tufted 
at  the  base,  but  also  alternating  up  the  stiff  stem,  is  the  Hairy 
Rock-cress  (Arabis  hirsutd),  whose  white  or  greenish  flowers, 
growing  in  racemes  after  the  usual  mustard  fashion,  are  quickly 
followed  by  very  narrow,  flattened  pods  two  inches  long  or  less. 
Around  the  world  this  small  traveller  has  likewise  found  its  way, 
choosing  rocky  places  to  display  its  insignificant  flowers  through- 
out the  entire  summer  to  such  small  bees  and  flies  as  seek  the 
nectar  in  its  two  tiny  glands.  It  is  not  to  be  confused  with  the 
saxifrage  or  stone-breaker. 


Round-leaved  Sundew;   Dew-plant 

(Drosera  rotundifolid)  Sundew  family 

Flowers — Small,  white,  growing  in  a  i -sided,  curved  raceme  of 
buds  chiefly.     Calyx  usually  5-parted  ;  usually  5  petals,  and 
as  many  stamens  as  petals  ;   usually  3  styles,  but  2-cleft, 
192 


White  and  Greenish 

thus  appearing  to  be  twice  as  many.  Scape:  4  to  10  in. 
high.  Leaves :  Growing  in  an  open  rosette  on  the  ground  ; 
round  or  broader,  clothed  with  reddish  bristly  hairs  tipped 
with  purple  glands,  and  narrowed  into  long,  flat,  hairy  peti- 
oles ;  young  leaves  curled  like  fern  fronds. 

Preferred  ffaMtat—Bogs,  sandy  and  sunny  marshes. 

Flowering  Season— July — August. 

Distribution — Labrador  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  westward. 
From  Alaska  to  California.  Europe  and  Asia. 

Here  is  a  bloodthirsty  little  miscreant  that  lives  by  reversing 
the  natural  order  of  higher  forms  of  life  preying  upon  lower  ones, 
an  anomaly  in  that  the  vegetable  actually  eats  the  animal  !  The 
dogbane,  as  we  have  seen  (p.  1 34),  simply  catches  the  flies  that 
dare  trespass  upon  the  butterflies'  preserves,  for  excellent  reasons 
of  its  own  ;  the  Silenes  and  phloxes,  among  others,  spread  their 
calices  with  a  sticky  gum  that  acts  as  limed  twigs  do  to  birds,  in 
order  to  guard  the  nectar  secreted  for  flying  benefactors  from  pil- 
fering ants  ;  the  honey  bee  being  an  imported,  not  a  native,  in- 
sect, and  therefore  not  perfectly  adapted  to  the  milkweed,  occa- 
sionally gets  entrapped  by  it  ;  the  big  bumblebee  is  sometimes 
fatally  imprisoned  in  the  moccasin  flower's  gorgeous  tomb — the 
punishment  of  insects  that  do  not  benefit  the  flowers  is  infinite  in 
its  variety.  But  the  local  Venus's  flytrap  (Dionaea  muscipula), 
gathered  only  from  the  low  savannas  in  North  Carolina  to  entertain 
the  owners  of  hothouses  as  it  promptly  closes  the  crushing  trap 
at  the  end  of  its  sensitive  leaves  over  a  hapless  fly,  and  the  com- 
mon sundew  that  tinges  the  peat-bogs  of  three  continents  with 
its  little  reddish  leaves,  belong  to  a  distinct  class  of  carnivorous 
plants  which  actually  masticate  their  animal  food,  depending  upon 
it  for  nourishment  as  men  do  upon  cattle  slaughtered  in  an  abat- 
toir. Darwin's  luminous  account  of  these  two  species  alone, 
which  occupies  over  three  hundred  absorbingly  interesting  pages 
of  his  "Insectivorous  Plants,"  should  be  read  by  everyone  inter- 
ested in  these  freaks  of  nature. 

When  we  go  to  some  sunny  cranberry  bog  to  look  for  these 
sundews,  nothing  could  be  more  innocent  looking  than  the  tiny 
plant,  its  nodding  raceme  of  buds,  usually  with  only  a  solitary 
little  blossom  (that  opens  only  in  the  sunshine)  at  the  top  of  the 
curve,  its  leaves  glistening  with  what  looks  like  dew,  though  the 
midsummer  sun  may  be  high  in  the  heavens.  A  little  fly  or  gnat, 
attracted  by  the  bright  jewels,  alights  on  a  leaf  only  to  find  that 
the  clear  drops,  more  sticky  than  honey,  instantly  glue  his  feet, 
that  the  pretty  reddish  hairs  about  him  act  like  tentacles,  reaching 
inward,  to  imprison  him  within  their  slowly  closing  embrace. 
Here  is  one  of  the  horrors  of  the  Inquisition  operating  in  this  land 
of  liberty  before  our  very  eyes  !  Excited  by  the  struggles  of  the 
victim,  the  sensitive  hairs  close  only  the  faster,  working  on  the 

13  »93 


White  and  Greenish 

same  principle  that  a  vine's  tendrils  do  when  they  come  in  con- 
tact with  a  trellis.  More  of  the  sticky  fluid  pours  upon  the  hap- 
less fly,  plastering  over  his  legs  and  wings  and  the  pores  on  his 
body  through  which  he  draws  his  breath.  Slowly,  surely,  the 
leaf  rolls  inward,  making  a  temporary  stomach  ;  the  cruel  hairs 
bind,  the  glue  suffocates  and  holds  him  fast.  Death  alone  releases 
him.  And  now  the  leafs  orgie  begins  :  moistening  the  fly  with 
a  fresh  peptic  fluid,  which  helps  in  the  assimilation,  the  plant 
proceeds  to  digest  its  food.  Curiously  enough,  chemical  analysis 
proves  that  this  sundew  secretes  a  complex  fluid  corresponding 
almost  exactly  to  the  gastric  juice  in  the  stomach  of  animals. 

Darwin,  who  fed  these  leaves  with  various  articles,  found  that 
they  could  dissolve  matter  out  of  pollen,  seeds,  grass,  etc. ;  yet 
without  a  human  caterer,  how  could  a  leaf  turn  vegetarian  ?  When 
a  bit  of  any  undesirable  substance,  such  as  chalk  or  wood,  was 
placed  on  the  hairs  and  excited  them,  they  might  embrace  it  tem- 
porarily; but  as  soon  as  the  mistake  was  discovered,  it  would  be 
dropped !  He  also  poisoned  the  plants  by  administering  acids, 
and  gave  them  fatal  attacks  of  indigestion  by  overfeeding  them 
with  bits  of  raw  beef  ! 

Other  common  sundews,  the  Spatulate-leaved  species  (D.  in- 
termedia) and  the  Thread-leaved  Sundew  (D.  filiformis),  whose 
purplish-pink  flowers  are  reared  above  wet  sand  along  the  coast, 
possess  contrivances  similar  to  the  round-leaved  plant's  to  pursue 
their  gruesome  business.  Why  should  these  vegetables  turn  car- 
nivorous ?  Doubtless  because  the  soil  in  which  they  grow  can 
supply  little  or  no  nitrogen.  Very  small  roots  testify  to  the  small 
use  they  serve.  The  water  sucked  up  through  them  from  the  bog 
aids  in  the  manufacture  of  the  fluid  so  freely  exuded  by  the  bristly 
glands,  but  nitrogen  must  be  obtained  by  other  means,  even  at 
the  sacrifice  of  insect  victims. 


Early  Saxifrage 

(Saxijraga  Virginiensis)  Saxifrage  family 

Flowers — White,  small,  numerous,  perfect,  spreading  into  a  loose 
panicle.  Calyx  globed  ;  5  petals  ;  10  stamens;  i  pistil  with 
2  styles.  Scape:  4  to  12  in." high,  naked,  sticky-hairy.  Leaves: 
Clustered  at  the  base,  rather  thick,  obovate,  toothed,  and 
narrowed  into  spatulate-margined  petioles.  Fruit:  Widely 
spread,  purplish-brown  pods. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rocky  woodlands,  hillsides. 

F/owering  Season — March — May. 

Distribution — New  Brunswick  to  Georgia,  and  westward  a  thou- 
sand miles  or  more. 

194 


White  and  Greenish 

Rooted  in  clefts  of  rock  that,  therefore,  appears  to  be  broken 
by  this  vigorous  plant,  the  saxifrage  shows  rosettes  of  fresh  green 
leaves  in  earliest  spring,  and  soon  whitens  with  its  blossoms  the 
most  forbidding  niches.  (Saxiim  —  a  rock  ;  frango  =  I  break.) 
At  first  a  small  ball  of  green  buds  nestles  in  the  leafy  tuffet, 
then  pushes  upward  on  a  bare  scape,  opening  its  tiny,  white,  five- 
pointed  star  flowers  as  it  ascends,  until,  having  reached  the  allotted 
height,  it  scatters  them  in  spreading  clusters  that  last  a  fortnight. 
Again  we  see  that,  however  insignificantly  small  nectar-bearing 
flowers  may  be,  they  are  somehow  protected  from  crawling  pil- 
ferers ;  in  this  case  by  the  commonly  employed  sticky  hairs  in 
which  ants'  feet  become  ensnared.  As  the  anthers  mature  before 
the  stigmas  are  ready  to  receive  pollen,  certainly  the  flowers  can- 
not afford  to  send  empty  away  the  benefactors  on  whom  the  per- 
petuation of  their  race  depends  ;  and  must  prevent  it  even  with 
the  most  heroic  measures.  (Illustration,  p.  242.) 


False    Mitrewort;     Coolwort;     Foam-Flower; 
Nancy-over-the-Ground 

(Tiarella  cor dif olio)  Saxifrage  family. 

Flowers — White,  small,  feathery,  borne  in  a  close  raceme  at  the 
top  of  a  scape  6  to  12  in.  high.  Calyx  white,  5-lobed  ;  5 
clawed  petals  ;  10  stamens,  long-exserted  ;  I  pistil  with  2 
styles.  Leaves  :  Long-petioled  from  the  rootstock  or  runners, 
rounded  or  broadly  heart-shaped,  3  to  7-lobed,  toothed,  often 
downy  along  veins  beneath. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rich,  moist  woods,  especially  along  mountains. 

Flowering  Season — April — May. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Georgia,  and  westward  scarcely  to 
the  Mississippi. 

Fuzzy,  bright  white  foam-flowers  are  most  conspicuous  in 
the  forest  when  seen  against  their  unevenly  colored  leaves  that 
carpet  the  ground.  A  relative,  the  true  Mitrewort  or  Bishop's 
Cap  (Mittella  diphylla),  with  similar  foliage,  except  that  two  oppo- 
site leaves  may  be  found  almost  seated  near  the  middle  of  its  hairy 
stem,  has  its  flowers  rather  distantly  scattered  on  the  raceme,  and 
their  fine  petals  deeply  cut  like  fringe.  Both  species  may  be  found 
in  bloom  at  the  same  time,  offering  an  opportunity  for  comparison 
to  the  contused  novice.  Now,  tiarella,  meaning  a  little  tiara,  and 
mitella,  a  little  mitre,  refer,  of  course,  to  the  odd  forms  of  their 
seed-cases  ;  but  all  of  us  are  not  gifted  with  the  imaginative  eyes 
of  Linnaeus,  who  named  the  plants.  Xenophon's  assertion  that 
the  royal  tiara  or  turban  of  the  Persians  was  encircled  with  a  crown 


White  and  Greenish 


helps  us  no  more  to  see  what  Linnaeus  saw  in  the  one  case 
than  the  fact  that  the  papal  mitre  is  encircled  by  three  crowns  helps 
in  the  other.  And  as  for  the  lofty,  two-peaked  cap  worn  by 
bishops  in  the  Roman  Church,  a  dozen  plants,  with  equal  pro- 
priety, might  be  said  to  wear  it. 


Carolina  Grass  of  Parnassus 

(Parnassia  Caroliniana)  Saxifrage  family 

Flowers — Creamy  white,  delicately  veined  with  greenish,  solitary, 
i  in.  broad  or  over,  at  the  end  of  a  scape  8  in.  to  2  ft.  high, 
i  ovate  leaf  clasping  it.  Calyx  deeply  5-lobed  ;  corolla  of 
5  spreading,  parallel  veined  petals  ;  5  fertile  stamens  alternat- 
ing with  them,  and  3  stout  imperfect  stamens  clustered  at 
base  of  each  petal  ;  i  very  short  pistil  with  4  stigmas. 
Leaves-:  From  the  root,  on  ^ong  petioles,  broadly  oval  or 
rounded,  heart-shaped  at  base,  rather  thick. 

Preferred  Habitat — Wet  ground,  low  meadows,  swamps. 

Flowering  Season — J uly — September. 

Distribution — New  Brunswick  to  Virginia,  west  to  Iowa. 

What's  in  a  name  ?  Certainly  our  common  grass  of  Par- 
nassus, which  is  no  grass  at  all,  never  starred  the  meadows  round 
about  the  home  of  the  Muses,  nor  sought  the  steaming  savannas 
of  the  Carolinas.  The  European  counterpart  (P.  palustris),  fabled 
to  have  sprung  up  on  Mount  Parnassus,  is  at  home  here  only  in 
the  Canadian  border  States  and  northward. 

At  first  analysis  one  is  puzzled  by  the  clusters  of  filaments 
at  the  base  of  each  petal.  Of  what  use  are  they  ?  We  have 
seen  in  the  case  of  the  beard-tongue  and  the  turtle-head  that 
even  imperfect  stamens  sometimes  serve  useful  ends,  or  they 
would  doubtless  have  been  abolished.  A  fly  or  bee  mistaking, 
as  he  well  may,  the  abortive  anthers  for  beads  of  nectar  on  this 
flower,  alights  on  one  of  the  white  petals,  a  convenient,  spreading 
landing  place  ;  but  finding  his  mistake,  and  guided  by  the  green- 
ish lines,  the  pathfinders  to  the  true  nectaries  situated  on  the 
other  side  of  the  curious  fringy  structures,  he  must,  because  of 
their  troublesome  presence,  climb  over  them  into  the  centre  of  the 
flower  to  suck  its  sweets  from  the  point  where  he  will  dust  him- 
self with  pollen  in  young  blossoms.  Of  course  he  will  carry  some 
of  their  vitalizing  powder  to  the  late  maturing  stigmas  of  older 
ones.  Without  the  fringe  of  imperfect  stamens,  that  serves  as  a 
harmless  trellis  easily  climbed  over,  the  visitor  might  stand  on  the 
petals  and  sip  nectar  without  rendering  any  assistance  in  cross- 
fertilizing  his  entertainers. 

196 


White  and  Greenish 


Ninebark 

(Opulaster  opulifolius)  Rose  family 
(Spiraea  opulifolia  of  Gray) 

Flowers — White  or  pink,  small,  in  numerous  rounded  terminal 
clusters  i  to  2  in.  broad.  Calyx  5-lobed  ;  5  rounded  petals 
inserted  in  its  throat ;  20  to  40  stamens  ;  several  pistils. 
Stem:  Shrubby,  3  to  loft,  high,  with  long,  recurved  branches, 
the  loose  bark  peeling  off  annually  in  thin  strips.  Leaves : 
Simple,  heart-shaped  or  rounded,  3-lobed,  toothed.  Fruit: 
3  to  5  smooth,  shining,  reddish,  inflated,  pointed  pods. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rocky  banks,  riversides. 

Flowering  Season — June. 

Distribution — Canada  to  Georgia,  west  to  Kansas. 

Whether  the  nurserymen  agree  with  Dr.  Gray  or  not  when 
he  says  these  balls  of  white  flowers  possess  "no  beauty,"  the 
fact  remains  that  numbers  of  the  shrubs  are  sold  for  ornament, 
especially  a  golden-Leaved  variety.  But  the  charm  certainly  lies 
in  their  fruit.  (Opulus  =  a  wild  cranberry  tree.)  When  this  is 
plentifully  set  at  the  ends  of  long  branches  that  curve  backward, 
and  the  bladder-like  pods  have  taken  on  a  rich  purplish  or  red- 
dish hue,  the  shrub  is  undeniably  decorative.  Even  the  old 
flowers,  after  they  have  had  their  pollen  carried  away  by  the  small 
bees  and  flies,  show  a  reddish  tint  on  the  ovaries  which  deepens 
as  the  fruit  forms  ;  and  Ludwig  states  that  this  is  not  only  to 
increase  the  conspicuousness  of  the  shrubs,  but  to  entice  unbid- 
den guests  away  from  the  younger  flowers.  Who  will  tell  us 
why  the  old  bark  should  loosen  every  year  and  the  thin  layers 
separate  into  not  nine,  but  dozens  of  ragged  strips  ? 


Meadow-Sweet;  Quaker  Lady;  Queen-of-the- 
Meadow 

(Spiraea  salicifolia)  Rose  family 

Flowers — Small,  white  or  flesh  pink,  clustered  in  dense  pyramidal 
terminal  panicles.  Calyx  5  cleft  ;  corolla  of  5  rounded  petals  ; 
stamens  numerous  ;  pistils  5  to  8.  Stem :  2  to  4  ft.  high, 
simple  or  bushy,  smooth,  usually  reddish.  Leaves :  Alternate, 
oval  or  oblong,  saw-edged. 

Preferred  Habitat — Low  meadows,  swamps,  fence-rows,  ditches. 

Flowering  Season — June — August. 

Distribution — Newfoundland  to  Georgia,  west  to  Rocky  Mountains. 
Europe  and  Asia. 

197 


White  and  Greenish 

Fleecy  white  plumes  of  meadow-sweet,  the  "spires  of  closely 
clustered  bloom"  sung  by  Dora  Read  Goodale,  are  surely  not 
frequently  found  near  dusty ,  "waysides  scorched  with  barren 
heat,"  even  in  her  Berkshires  ;  their  preference  is  for  moister  soil, 
often  in  the  same  habitat  with  a  first  cousin,  the  pink  steeple-bush. 
But  plants,  like  humans,  are  capricious  creatures.  If  the  meadow- 
sweet always  elected  to  grow  in  damp  ground  whose  rising  mists 
would  clog  the  pores  of  its  leaves,  doubtless  they  would  be  pro- 
tected with  a  woolly  absorbent,  as  its  cousins  are. 

Inasmuch  as  perfume  serves  as  an  attraction  to  the  more 
highly  specialized,  aesthetic  insects,  not  required  by  the  spiraeas, 
our  meadow-sweet  has  none,  in  spite  of  its  misleading  name. 
Small  bees  (especially  Andrenidae],  flies  (Syr phi  dot],  and  beetles, 
among  other  visitors,  come  in  great  numbers,  seeking  the  accessible 
pollen,  and,  in  this  case,  nectar  also,  secreted  in  a  conspicuous 
orange-colored  disk.  When  a  floret  first  opens,  or  even  before,  the 
already  mature  stigmas  overtop  the  incurved,  undeveloped  sta- 
mens, so  that  any  visitor  dusted  from  other  clusters  cross-fertilizes 
it  ;  but  as  the  stigmas  remain  fresh  even  after  the  stamens  have 
risen  and  shed  their  abundant  pollen,  it  follows  that  in  long-con- 
tinued stormy  weather,  when  few  insects  are  flying,  the  flowers 
fertilize  themselves.  Self-fertilization  with  insect  help  must  often 
occur  in  the  flower's  second  stage.  The  fragrant  yellowish-white 
English  Meadow-sweet  (S.  ulmariti),  often  cultivated  in  old- 
fashioned  gardens  here,  has  escaped  locally. 

In  long,  slender,  forking  spikes  the  Goafs-beard  (Aruncus 
Aruncus) — Spiraea  aruncus  of  Gray — lifts  its  graceful  panicles  of 
minute  whitish  flowers  in  May  and  June  from  three  to  seven  feet 
above  the  rich  soil  of  its  woodland  home.  The  petioled,  pinnate 
leaves  are  compounded  of  several  leaflets  like  those  on  its  relative 
the  rose-bush.  From  New  York  southward  and  westward  to 
Missouri,  also  on  the  Pacific  Coast  to  Alaska,  is  its  range  on  this 
Continent.  Very  many  more  beetles  than  any  other  visitors  transfer 
pollen  from  the  staminate  flowers  on  one  plant  to  the  pistillate 
ones  on  another;  other  plants  produce  only  perfect  flowers — the 
reason  different  panicles  vary  so  much  in  appearance. 

Another  herbaceous  perennial  once  counted  a  spiraea  is  the 
common  Indian  Physic  or  Bowman's-root  (Porteranthus  trifoli- 
atus) — Gillensia  trifoliata  of  Gray— found  blooming  in  the  rich 
woods  during  June  and  July  from  western  New  York  southward 
and  westward.  Two  to  four  feet  high,  it  displays  its  very  loose, 
pretty  clusters  of  white  or  pale  pink  flowers,  comparatively  few 
in  the  whole  panicle,  each  blossom  measuring  about  a  half  inch 
across  and  borne  on  a  slender  pedicel.  A  tubular,  5-toothed  calyx 
has  the  long  slender  petals  inserted  within.  Owing  to  the  depth 
and  narrowness  of  the  tube,  the  small,  long-tongued  bees  cannot 

198 


MEADOW-SWEET 
(.Spirea.  fatici/oKa) 


White  and  Greenish 


reach  the  nectar  without  dusting  their  heads  with  pollen  from  the 
anthers  inserted  in  a  ring  around  the  entrance  or  leaving  some  on  the 
stigmas  of  other  blossoms.  Later,  the  five  carpels  make  as  many 
hairy,  awl-tipped  little  pods  within  the  reddish  cup.  The  leaves 
may  be  compounded  of  three  oblong  or  ovate,  saw-edged  leaf- 
lets, or  merely  three-lobed,  and  with  small  stipules  at  their  base. 


Wild  Red  Raspberry 

(Rubus  strigosus)  Rose  family 

Flowers — White,  about  >2  in.  across,  on  slender,  bristly  pedicels, 
in  a  loose  cluster.     Calyx  deeply  5-parted,  persistent  in  fruit  ; 

5  erect,  short-lived  petals,  about  the  length  of  the  sepals  ; 
stamens  numerous  ;  carpels  numerous,  inserted  on  a  convex 
spongy  receptacle,  and  ripening  into  drupelets.     Stem:  3  to 

6  ft.  high,  shrubby,  densely  covered  with  bristles  ;   older, 
woody  stems  with  rigid,  hooked  prickles.     Leaves :  Com- 
pounded of  3  to  5  ovate,  pointed,  and  irregularly  saw-edged 
leaflets,  downy  beneath,  on  bristly  petioles.     Fruit:  A  light 
red,  watery,  tender,  high-flavored,  edible  berry  ;  ripe  July — 
September. 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry  soil,  rocky  hillsides,  fence-rows,  hedges. 
Flowering  Season — May — July. 

Distribution — Labrador  to  North  Carolina,  also  in  Rocky  Mountain 
region. 

Who  but  the  bees  and  such  small  visitors  care  about  the 
raspberry  blossoms  ?  Notwithstanding  the  nectar  secreted  in  a 
fleshy  ring  for  their  benefit,  comparatively  few  insects  enter  the 
flowers,  whose  small,  erect  petals  imply  no  hospitable  welcome. 
Occasionally  a  visitor  laden  with  pollen  from  another  plant  alights 
in  the  centre  of  a  blossom,  and  leaves  some  on  the  stigmas  in  bend- 
ing his  head  down  between  them  and  the  stamens  to  reach  the 
refreshment;  but  inasmuch  as  the  erect  petals  allow  no  room  for 
the  stamens  to  spread  out  and  away  from  the  stigmas,  it  follows 
that  self-fertilization  very  commonly  occurs. 

Of  course,  men  and  children,  bears  and  birds,  are  vastly  more 
interested  in  the  delicious  berries  ;  men  for  the  reason  that  several 
excellent  market  varieties,  some  white  or  pale  red,  the  Cuthbert 
and  Hansall  berries  among  others,  owe  their  origin  to  this  hardy 
native.  Many  superior  sorts  derived  from  its  European  counter- 
part (R.  Idaeus)  cannot  well  endure  our  rigorous  northern  climate. 
As  in  the  case  of  most  berry-bearing  species,  the  raspberry  depends 
upon  the  birds  to  drop  its  undigested  seeds  over  the  country,  that 
new  colonies  may  arise  under  freer  conditions.  Indeed,  one  of 

199 


White  and  Greenish 

the  best  places  for  the  budding  ornithologist  to  take  opera-giasses 
and  note-book  is  to  a  raspberry  patch  early  in  the  morning. 


The  Black  Raspberry,  Black  Cap  or  Scotch  Cap  or  Thimble- 
berry  (R.  occidentalism,  common  in  such  situations  as  the  red  rasp- 
berry chooses,  but  especially  in  burned-over  districts  from  Virginia 
northward  and  westward,  has  very  long,  smooth,  cane-like  stems, 
often  bending  low  until  they  root  again  at  the  tips.  These  are 
only  sparingly  armed  with  small,  hooked  prickles,  no  bristles. 
The  flowers,  which  are  similar  to  the  preceding,  but  clustered 
more  compactly,  are  sparingly  visited  by  insects  ;  nevertheless 
when  self-fertilized,  as  they  usually  are,  abundant  purplish-black 
berries,  hollow  like  a  thimble  where  they  drop  from  the  spongy 
receptacle,  ripen  in  July.  Numerous  garden  hybrids  have  been 
derived  from  this  prolific  species  also.  Indeed  its  offspring  are  the 
easiest  raspberries  to  grow,  since  they  form  new  plants  at  the  tips 
of  the  branches,  yet  do  not  weaken  themselves  with  suckers,  and 
so,  even  without  care,  yield  immense  crops.  One  need  not  stir 
many  feet  around  a  good  raspberry  patch  to  enjoy  a  Transcen- 
dental feast. 


High  Bush  Blackberry;  Bramble 

(Rubus  •villosus)  Rose  family 

Flowers — White,  I  in.  or  less  across,  in  terminal  raceme-like  clus- 
ters. Calyx  deeply  5-parted,  persistent ;  5  large  petals ;  sta- 
mens and  carpels  numerous,  the  latter  inserted  on  a  pulpy 
receptacle.  Stem:  3  to  10  ft.  high,  woody,  furrowed, 
curved,  armed  with  stout,  recurved  prickles.  Leaves :  Com- 
pounded of  3  to  5  ovate,  saw-edged  leaflets,  the  end  one 
stalked,  all  hairy  beneath.  Fruit:  Firmly  attached  to  the 
receptacle;  nearly  black,  oblong  juicy  berries  i  in.  long  or 
less,  hanging  in  clusters.  Ripe,  July — August. 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry  soil,  thickets,  fence-rows,  old  fields,  way- 
sides. Low  altitudes. 

flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution — New  England  to  Florida,  and  far  westward. 

"  There  was  a  man  of  our  town, 
And  he  was  wondrous  wise, 
He  jumped  into  a  bramble  bush  " — 

If  we  must  have  poetical  associations  for  every  flower,  Mother 
Goose  furnishes  several. 

But  for  the  practical  mind  this  plant's  chief  interest  lies  in  the 


White  and  Greenish 

fact  that  from  its  wild  varieties  the  famous  Lawton  and  Kitta- 
tinny  blackberries  have  been  derived.  The  late  Peter  Henderson 
used  to  tell  how  the  former  came  to  be  introduced.  A  certain 
Mr.  Secor  found  an  unusually  fine  blackberry  growing  wild  in  a 
hedge  at  New  Rochelle,  New  York,  and  removed  it  to  his  gar- 
den, where  it  increased  apace.  But  not  even  for  a  gift  could  he 
induce  a  neighbor  to  relieve  him  of  the  superfluous  bushes,  so  lit- 
tle esteemed  were  blackberries  in  his  day.  However,  a  shrewd 
lawyer  named  Lawton  at  length  took  hold  of  it,  exhibited  the 
fruit,  advertised  it  cleverly,  and  succeeded  in  pocketing  a  snug 
little  fortune  from  the  sale  of  the  prolific  plants.  Another  fine 
variety  of  the  common  wild  blackberry,  which  was  discovered  by 
a  clergyman  at  the  edge  of  the  woods  on  the  Kittatinny  Moun- 
tains in  New  Jersey,  has  produced  fruit  under  skilled  cultivation 
that  still  remains  the  best  of  its  class.  When  clusters  of  blos- 
soms and  fruit  in  various  stages  of  green,  red,  and  black  hang  on 
the  same  bush,  few  ornaments  in  Nature's  garden  are  more 
decorative. 

Because  bramble  flowers  show  greater  executive  ability  than 
the  raspberries  do,  they  flaunt  much  larger  petals,  and  spread 
them  out  flat  to  attract  insect  workers  as  well  as  to  make  room 
for  the  stamens  to  spread  away  from  the  stigmas — an  arrange- 
ment which  gives  freer  access  to  the  nectar  secreted  in  a  fleshy 
ring  at  the  base.  Heavy  bumblebees,  which  require  a  firm  sup- 
port, naturally  alight  in  the  centre,  just  as  they  do  in  the  wild 
roses  (p.  98),  and  deposit  on  the  early  maturing  stigmas  some 
imported  pollen.  They  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  the  truest 
benefactors,  and  it  will  be  noticed  that  for  their  special  benefit  the 
nectar  is  rather  deeply  concealed,  where  short-tongued  insects 
cannot  rob  them  of  it.  Small  bees,  which  come  only  to  gather 
pollen  from  first  the  outer  and  then  the  inner  rows  of  stamens, 
and  a  long  list  of  other  light-weight  visitors,  too  often  alight  on 
the  petals  to  effect  cross-fertilization  regularly,  but  they  usually 
self-fertilize  the  blossoms.  Competition  between  these  flowers 
and  the  next  is  fierce,  for  their  seasons  overlap. 

The  Dewberry  or  Low  Running  Blackberry  (R.  Canadensis), 
that  trails  its  woody  stem  by  the  dusty  roadside,  in  dry  fields, 
and  on  sterile,  rocky  hillsides,  calls  forth  maledictions  from  the 
bare-footed  farmer's  boy,  except  during  June  and  July,  when  its 
prickles  are  freely  forgiven  it  in  consideration  of  the  delicious, 
black,  seedy  berries  it  bears.  He  is  the  last  one  in  the  world  to 
confuse  this  vine  with  the  Swamp  Blackberry  (R.  hispidus],  a 
smaller  flowered  runner,  slender  and  weakly  prickly  as  to  its 
stem,  and  insignificant  and  sour  as  to  its  fruit.  Its  greatest 
charm  is  when  we  come  upon  it  in  some  low  meadow  in  winter, 
when  its  still  persistent,  shining,  large  leaves,  that  have  taken 
on  rich  autumnal  reds,  glow  among  the  dry,  dead  weeds  and 
grasses. 

201 


White  and  Greenish 


Creeping  Dalibarda 

(Dalibarda  repens)  Rose  family 

Flowers — White,  solitary,  or  2  at  end  of  a  scape  2  to  5  in.  high. 
Calyx  deeply,  unevenly  5  or  6  parted,  the  larger  divisions 
toothed  ;  5  petals  falling  early  ;  numerous  stamens  ;  5  to  10 
carpels  forming  as  many  dry  drupelets  within  the  persistent 
calyx.  Stem:  Creeping,  slender,  no  prickles.  Leaves:  Long 
petioled,  in  tufts  from  the  runner,  almost  round,  heart-shaped 
at  base,  crenate-edged,  both  sides  hairy. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Woods  and  wooded  hillsides. 

Flowering  Season — J une — September. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Pennsylvania,  and  westward  to  the 
Mississippi. 

This  delicate  blossom,  which  one  might  mistake  for  a  white 
violet  among  a  low  tuft  of  violet-like  leaves,  shows  its  rose 
kinship  by  its  rule  of  five  and  its  numerous  stamens.  Like  the 
violet  again,  however,  it  bears  curious  little  economical  flowers 
near  the  ground — flowers  which  never  open,  and  so  save  pollen. 
These,  requiring  no  insects  to  fertilize  them,  waste  no  energy  in 
putting  forth  petals  to  advertise  for  visitors.  Nevertheless,  to  save 
the  species  from  degeneracy  from  close  inbreeding,  this  little  plant 
needs  must  display  a  few  showy  blossoms  to  insure  cross-fertilized 
seed  ;  for  the  offspring  of  such  defeats  the  offspring  of  self-fertilized 
plants  in  the  struggle  for  existence. 


Virginia  Strawberry 

(Fragaria  Virginiand)  Rose  family 

Flowers — White,  loosely  clustered  at  summit  of  an  erect  hairy 
scape  usually  shorter  than  the  leaves.  Calyx  persistent  in 
fruit,  deeply  5-cleft,  with  5  bracts  between  the  divisions  ; 
5  petals  ;  stamens  and  pistils  numerous,  the  latter  inserted 
on  a  cushion-like  receptacle  becoming  fleshy  in  fruit.  Stami- 
nate  and  pistillate  flowers,  from  separate  roots.  Stem:  Run- 
ning, and  forming  new  plants.  Leaves:  Tufted  from  the 
root,  on  hairy  petioles  2  to  6  in.  tall,  compounded  of  3 
broadly  oval,  saw-edged  leaflets.  Fruit:  An  ovoid,  glisten- 
ing red  berry,  the  minute  achenes  imbedded  in  pits  on  its 
surface.  Ripe,  June— July.  (Latin,  fragum= fragrant  fruit, 
the  strawberry.) 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry  fields,  banks,  roadsides,  woodlands. 

Flowering  Season— April — June. 

202 


White  and  Greenish 

Distribution — New  Brunswick  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  west- 
ward to  Dakota. 

"  Doubtless  God  could  have  made  a  better  berry,  but  doubt- 
less God  never  did."  Whether  one  is  kneeling  in  the  fields, 
gathering  the  sun-kissed,  fragrant,  luscious,  wet  scarlet  berries 
nodding  among  the  grass,  or  eating  the  huge  cultivated  fruit 
smothered  with  sugar  and  cream,  one  fervently  quotes  Dr. 
Boteler  with  dear  old  Izaak  Walton.  Shakespeare  says:  "My 
lord  of  Ely,  when  I  was  last  in  Holborn,  I  saw  good  strawberries 
in  your  garden  there."  Is  not  this  the  first  reference  to  the 
strawberry  under  cultivation  ?  Since  the  time  of  Henry  V.,  what 
multitudes  of  garden  varieties  past  the  reckoning  have  been 
evolved  from  the  smooth,  conic  European  Wood  Strawberry  (F. 
vesca)  now  naturalized  in  our  Eastern  and  Middle  States,  as  well 
as  from  our  own  precious  pitted  native  !  Some  authorities  claim 
the  berry  received  its  name  from  the  straw  laid  between  garden 
rows  to  keep  the  fruit  clean,  but  in  earliest  Anglo-Saxon  it  was 
called  streowberie,  and  later  straberry,  from  the  peculiarity  of  its 
straying  suckers  lying  as  if  strewn  on  the  ground  ;  and  so,  after 
making  due  allowance  for  the  erratic,  go-as-you-please  spelling 
of  early  writers,  it  would  seem  that  there  might  be  two  theories 
as  to  the  origin  of  the  name. 

Since  the  different  sexes  of  these  flowers  frequently  occur  on 
separate  plants,  good  reason  have  they  to  woo  insect  messengers 
with  a  showy  corolla,  a  ring  of  nectar,  and  abundant  pollen  to 
be  transferred  while  they  are  feasted.  Lucky  is  the  gardener  who 
succeeds  in  keeping  birds  from  pecking  their  share  of  the  berries 
which,  of  course,  were  primarily  intended  for  them.  In  English 
gardens  one  is  almost  certain  to  find  a  thrush  or  two  imprisoned 
under  the  nets  so  futilely  spread  over  strawberry  beds,  just  as 
their  American  cousin,  the  robin,  is  caught  here  in  June. 

A  young  botanist  may  be  interested  to  note  the  difference  in 
the  formation  of  the  raspberry  or  blackberry  and  the  strawberry : 
in  the  former  it  is  the  carpels  (ovaries)  that  swell  around  the 
spongy  receptacle  into  numerous  little  fruits  (drupelets)  united 
into  one  berry,  whereas  it  is  the  cushion-like  receptacle  itself  in 
the  strawberry  blossom  that  swells  and  reddens  into  fruit,  carry- 
ing with  it  the  tiny  yellow  pistils  to  the  surface. 

The  Northern  Wild  Strawberry  (F.  Canadensis),  with  clus- 
ters of  elongated,  oblong  little  berries  delightful  to  three  senses, 
comes  over  the  Canadian  border  no  farther  south  than  the  Cats- 
kills.  Nearly  all  strawberry  plants  show  the  useless  but  charm- 
ing eccentricity  of  bursting  into  bloom  again  in  autumn,  the  little 
white-petalled  blossoms  coming  like  unexpected  flurries  of  snow. 

No  one  will  confuse  our  common,  fruiting  species  with  the 
small,  yellow-flowered  Dry  or  Barren  Strawberry  (Waldsteinia 
fragarioides),  more  nearly  related  to  the  cinquefoils.  Tufts  of  its 

203 


White  and  Greenish 

pretty  trefoliate  leaves,  sent  up  from  a  creeping  rootstock,  carpet 
the  woods  and  hillsides  from  New  England  and  along  the  Alle- 
ghanies  to  Georgia,  and  westward  a  thousand  miles  or  more. 
Flowers  in  May  and  June. 


White  Avens 

(Geum  Canadense)  Rose  family 
(G.  album  of  Gray) 

Flowers — White  or  pale  greenish  yellow,  about  %  in.  across, 
loosely  scattered  in  small  clusters  on  slender  peduncles. 
Calyx  persistent,  5-cleft,  with  little  bracts  between  the  re- 
flexed  divisions  ;  5  petals,  equalling  or  shorter  than  the 
sepals  ;  stamens  and  carpels  numerous,  the  latter  collected 
on  a  short,  bristly-hairy  receptacle  ;  styles  smooth  below, 
hairy  above,  jointed.  Stem:  2^/2  ft.  high  or  less,  slender, 
branching  above.  Leaves:  Seated  on  stem  or  short  petioled, 
of  3  to  5  divisions,  or  lobed,  toothed  ;  small  stipules  ;  also 
irregularly  divided  large  root-leaves  on  long  petioles,  3- 
foliate,  usually  the  terminal  leaflet  large,  broadly  ovate  ;  side 
leaflets  much  smaller,  all  more  or  less  lobed  and  toothed. 
Fruit:  A  ball  of  achenes,  each  ending  in  an  elongated, 
hooked  style. 

Preferred  Habitat — Woodland  borders,  shady  thickets  and  road- 
sides. 

Flowering  Season — June — September. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Georgia,  west  to  the  Mississippi  or 
beyond. 

Small  bees  and  flies,  attracted  to  sheltered,  shady  places  by 
these  loosely  scattered  flowers  at  the  ends  of  zig-zagged  stems, 
pay  for  the  nectar  they  sip  from  the  disk  where  the  stamens  are 
inserted,  by  carrying  some  of  the  pollen  lunch  on  their  heads 
from  the  older  to  the  younger  flowers,  which  mature  stigmas  first. 
But  saucy  bumblebees,  undutiful  pilferers  from  the  purple  avens, 
rarely  visit  blossoms  so  inconspicuous.  Insects  failing  these,  they 
are  well  adapted  to  pollenize  themselves.  Most  of  us  are  all  too 
familiar  with  the  seeds,  clinging  by  barbed  styles  to  any  garment 
passing  their  way,  in  the  hope  that  their  stolen  ride  will  eventu- 
ally land  them  in  good  colonizing  ground.  Whoever  spends  an 
hour  patiently  picking  off  the  various  seed  tramps  from  his  clothes 
after  a  walk  through  the  woods  and  fields  in  autumn,  realizes  that 
the  by  hook  or  by  crook  method  of  scattering  offspring  is  one  of 
Nature's  favorites.  Simpler  plants  than  those  with  hooked  achenia 
produce  enormous  numbers  of  spores  so  light  and  tiny  that  the 
wind  and  rain  distribute  them  wholesale. 

204 


White  and  Greenish 


Red  Choke-berry;  Dogberry  Tree 

(Aronia  arbutifolia)  Apple  family 
(Pyrus  arbutifolia  of  Gray) 

Flowers — White  or  magenta  tinged,  y2  in.  across  or  less,  in  ter- 
minal, compound  cymes,  finally  overtopped  by  young  sterile 
shoots.  Calyx  5-lobed,  hairy  ;  5  concave,  spreading  petals  ; 
stamens  numerous  ;  3  to  5  styles  united  at  base  ;  ovary 
woolly.  Stem:  Shrubby,  branching,  usually  low,  rarely  12 
ft.  high.  Leaves :  Alternate,  petioled,  oval  to  oblong,  finely 
cut-edged,  smooth  above,  matted  with  woolly  hairs  under- 
neath. Fruit:  Small,  round  or  top-shaped,  bright  red 
berries. 

Preferred  Habitat — Swamps,  low  ground,  wet  thickets. 

Flowering  Season — March — May. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Gulf  of  Mexico,  westward  to  the 
Mississippi. 

Another  common  species  often  found  in  the  same  haunts, 
the  Black  Choke-berry  (A.  nigra],  with  similar  flowers,  the  berries 
very  dark  purple,  was  formerly  confounded  with  the  red  choke- 
berry.  But  because  it  sometimes  elects  to  live  in  dry  ground  its 
leaves  require  no  woolly  mat  on  the  underside  to  absorb  vapors 
arising  from  wet  retreats.  (See  Steeple-bush,  p.  96.)  No  wonder 
that  the  insipid  little  berries,  related  to  apples,  pears,  and  other 
luscious  fruits,  should  share  with  a  cousin,  the  mountain  ash,  or 
rowan,  the  reproachful  name  of  dogberry. 


June-berry;   Service-berry;   May-cherry 

(Amelanchier  Canadensis)  Apple  family 

Flowers — Pure  white,  over  i  in.  across,  on  long,  slender  pedicels, 
in  spreading  or  drooping  racemes,  with  silky,  reddish  bracts, 
early  falling,  among  them.  Calyx  persistent,  5-parted;  5 
long,  narrow,  tapering  petals,  3  or  4  times  the  length  of  calyx ; 
numerous  stamens  inserted  on  calyx  throat;  2  to  5  styles, 
hairy  at  base.  Stem  :  A  large  shrub  or  tree,  usually  much  less 
than  25  ft.  high,  rarely  twice  that  height,  wood  very  hard  and 
heavy.  Leaves :  Alternate,  oval,  tapering  at  tip,  finely  saw- 
edged,  smooth  (like  the  pear  tree's),  often  hairy  when  young. 
Fruit :  Round,  crimson,  sweet,  edible,  seedy  berries,  ripe  in 
June  and  July. 

205 


White  and  Greenish 

Preferred  Habitat—  Woodland  borders,  pasture  thickets,  dry  soil. 
Flowering  Season — March — May. 

Distribution — Newfoundland  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  westward  over 
a  thousand  miles. 

Silvery-white  chandeliers,  hanging  from  the  edges  of  the 
woods,  light  Flora's  path  in  earliest  spring,  before  the  trees  and 
shrubbery  about  them  have  begun  to  put  forth  foliage,  much  less 
flowers.  Little  plants  that  hug  the  earth  for  protection  while  rude 
winds  rush  through  the  forest  and  across  the  hillsides,  are  already 
starring  her  way  with  fragile,  dainty  blossoms;  but  what  other 
shrub,  except  the  service-berry's  twin  sister  the  shad-bush,  or  per- 
haps the  spice-bush,  has  the  temerity  to  burst  into  bloom  while 
March  gusts  howl  through  the  naked  forests  ?  Little  female  bees 
of  the  Andrena  tribe,  already  at  work  collecting  pollen  and  nectar 
for  generations  yet  unborn,  buzz  their  gratitude  about  the  beauti- 
ful feathery  clusters  that  lean  away  from  the  crowded  thicket 
with  a  wild,  irregular  grace.  Nesting  birds  have  abundant  cause 
for  gratitude  also,  for  the  attractive,  sweet  berries,  that  ripen 
providentially  early;  but,  of  course,  the  bees  which  transfer  pollen 
from  flower  to  flower,  and  the  birds  which  drop  the  seeds  far  and 
wide,  are  not  the  receivers  of  wholly  disinterested  favors. 


The  Shad-bush  or  Swamp  Sugar-pear  (A.  Botryapium),  be- 
cause it  was  formerly  accounted  a  mere  variety  (oblongi folia)  of 
the  preceding  species,  still  shares  with  it  its  popular  names;  but 
swamps,  river  banks,  brook  sides,  and  moist  thickets  are  its  habi- 
tat. Consequently  both  its  inflorescence  and  pale  green,  glossy 
foliage  are  covered  with  a  sort  of  whitish  cotton,  absorbent  when 
young,  to  prevent  the  pores  from  clogging  with  vapors  arising 
from  its  damp  retreats.  Late  in  the  season,  when  streams  narrow 
or  dry  up  altogether,  and  the  air  becomes  drier,  as  the  sun  rises 
higher  in  the  heavens,  the  foliage  is  usually  quite  smooth.  It  will 
be  noticed  that,  lovely  as  the  shad-bush  is,  its  smaller  flowers  have 
shorter  pedicels  than  the  service-berry's ;  consequently  its  feathery 
sprays,  which  are  flung  outward  to  the  sunshine  in  April  and  May, 
lack  something  of  the  grace  for  which  its  sister  stands  preeminent. 
Under  cultivation  both  species  assume  conventional  form,  and 
lose  the  wild  irregularities  of  growth  that  charm  us  in  Nature's 
garden.  Indians  believed,  what  is  an  obvious  fact,  that  when  this 
bush  whitens  the  swampy  river-banks,  shad  are  swimming  up 
the  stream  from  the  sea  to  spawn.  Then,  too,  the  night  hawk, 
returning  from  its  winter  visit  south,  booms  forth  its  curious  whir- 
ring, vibrating,  jarring  sound  as  it  drops  through  the  air  at  unseen 
heights,  a  dismal,  weird  noise  which  the  red  man  thought  pro- 
ceeded from  the  shad  spirits  come  to  warn  the  schools  of  fish  of 
their  impending  fate. 

206 


White  and  Greenish 

Common  Hawthorn;  White  Thorn;  Scarlet- 
fruited  Thorn ;  Red  Haw;  Mayflowers 

(Crataegus  coccinea)  Apple  family 

flowers — White,  rarely  pinkish,  usually  less  than  i  in.  across, 
numerous,  in  terminal  corymbs.  Calyx  5-lobed  ;  5  spread- 
ing petals  inserted  in  its  throat ;  numerous  stamens  ;  styles 
3  to  5.  Stem :  A  shrub  or  small  tree,  rarely  attaining  30  ft. 
in  height  (Kratos  —  strength,  in  reference  to  hardness  and 
toughness  of  the  wood)  ;  branches  spreading,  and  beset  with 
stout  spines  (thorns)  nearly  2  in.  long.  Leaves :  Alternate, 
petioled,  2  to  3  in.  long,  ovate,  very  sharply  cut  or  lobed, 
the  teeth  glandular-tipped.  Fruit:  Coral  red,  round  or 
oval ;  not  edible. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Thickets,  fence-rows,  woodland  borders. 

Flowering  Season — May. 

Distribution — Newfoundland  and  Manitoba  southward  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico. 

"  The  fair  maid  who,  the  first  of  May, 
Goes  to  the  fields  at  break  of  day 
And  washes  in  dew  from  the  hawthorn  tree 
Will  ever  after  handsome  be." 

Here  is  a  popular  recipe  omitted  from  that  volume  of  heart- 
to-heart  talks  entitled  "How  to  Be  Pretty  though  Plain"! 

The  sombre-thoughted  Scotchman,  looking  for  trouble, 
tersely  observes  ; 

"  Mony  haws, 
Mony  snaws." 

But  in  delicious,  blossoming  May,  when  the  joy  of  living  fairly 
intoxicates  one,  and  every  bird's  throat  is  swelling  with  happy 
music,  who  but  a  Calvinist  would  croak  dismal  prophecies  ?  In 
Ireland,  old  crones  tell  marvellous  tales  about  the  hawthorns, 
and  the  banshees  which  have  a  predilection  for  them.  So  much 
for  folk-lore. 

As  one  might  suspect  from  the  rather  disagreeable  odor  of 
these  blossoms,  they  are  most  attractive  to  flies  and  beetles, 
which,  carrying  pollen  from  older  flowers,  leave  some  on  the 
stigmas  that  are  already  mature  in  newly-opened  ones.  A  con- 
cave nectar-secreting  disk,  not  concealed  by  the  filaments  in  this 
case,  is  eagerly  pilfered  by  numerous  little  short-lipped  insects 
which  render  no  benefit  in  return  ;  but  many  others  assist  in 
self-pollination  after  the  anthers  ripen.  The  splendid  monarch 
butterfly  {Anosia  plexippus),  the  banded  purple  (Basilarchia 
arthemis),  whose  caterpillar  feeds  on  hawthorn  foliage,  and  the 

207 


White  and  Greenish 

light  brown  hunter's  butterfly  (Pyrameis  htmtera)  are  among 
the  visitors  seen  flitting  about  this  exquisite  little  tree  in  early 
May,  when  it  is  fairly  white  with  bloom. 

The  Red-fruited  Thorn  (C.  mollis),  more  hairy  on  its  twigs, 
petioles,  calices,  and  fruit  than  the  preceding,  but  so  like  it  in 
most  respects  it  was  formerly  accounted  a  mere  variety,  is  an 
earlier  and  even  more  prolific  bloomer,  the  generous,  large  clusters 
of  malodorous  flowers  coming  with  the  leaves  in  April,  and  last- 
ing until  the  common  hawthorn  starts  into  lively  competition 
with  it  for  insect  trade. 

Numerous  long,  slender  thorns,  often  measuring  a  finger- 
length,  distinguish  the  Cockspur  or  Newcastle  Thorn  (C.  Crus- 
Galli],  whose  abundant  small  flowers  and  shining,  leathery 
leaves,  dull  underneath,  are  conspicuous  in  thickets  from  Quebec 
to  the  Gulf.  Immense  numbers  of  little  bees,  among  many  other 
visitors,  may  be  noted  on  a  fine  day  in  May  and  early  June  about 
this  showy  shrub  or  tree.  Because  it  blooms  later  than  its  rival 
sisters,  it  has  the  insect  wooers  then  abroad  all  to  itself. 

While  most  of  our  beautiful  native  hawthorns  have  been 
introduced  to  European  gardens,  it  is  the  White  Thorn  or  May 
(C.  Oxyacantha)  of  Europe  and  Asia  which  is  most  commonly 
cultivated  here.  Truly  a  shrub,  like  a  prophet,  is  not  without 
honor  save  in  its  own  country. 


White  Sweet  Clover;  Bokhara  or  Tree  Clover; 
White  Melilot;  Honey  Lotus 

(Melilotus  alba)  Pea  family 

Flowers — Small,  white,  fragrant,  papilionaceous,  the  standard  petal 
a  trifle  longer  than  the  wings  ;  borne  in  slender  racemes. 
Stem:  3  to  10  ft.  tall,  branching.  Leaves:  Rather  distant, 
petioled,  compounded  of  3  oblong,  saw-edged  leaflets;  fra- 
grant, especially  when  dry. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Waste  lands,  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — June — November. 

Distribution — United  States,  Europe,  Asia. 

Happy  must  the  honey-bees  have  been  to  find  that  the  sweet 
clover,  one  of  their  dearest  delights  in  the  Old  World,  had  preceded 
them  in  immigrating  to  the  New.  Immense  numbers  of  insects — 
bees  in  great  variety,  v/asps,  flies,  moths,  and  beetles — visit  the 
little  blossoms  that  provide  entertainment  so  generous  and  acces- 
sible ;  but  honey-bees  are  ever  especially  abundant.  Slight  weight 
depresses  the  keel,  releasing  the  stigma  and  anthers  ;  therefore, 
so  soon  as  a  bee  alights  and  opens  the  flower,  he  is  hit  below  the 
belt  by  the  projecting  stigma.  Pollen  carried  by  him  there  from 

208 


White  and  Greenish 

other  clovers  comes  off  on  its  sticky  surface  before  his  abdomen 
gets  freshly  dusted  from  the  anthers,  which  are  necessarily  rubbed 
against  while  he  sips  nectar.  On  the  removal  of  his  pressure,  the 
floret  springs  back  to  its  closed  condition,  to  protect  the  precious 
nectar  and  pollen  from  rain  and  pilferers.  As  the  stigma  projects 
too  far  beyond  the  anthers  to  be  likely  to  receive  any  of  the 
flower's  own  pollen,  good  reason  is  there  for  the  blossoms  guard- 
ing their  attractions  for  the  benefit  of  their  friends,  which  transfer 
the  vitalizing  dust  from  one  floret  to  another.  By  clustering  its 
small  flowers  in  spikes,  to  make  them  conspicuous,  as  well  as  to 
facilitate  dining  for  its  benefactors;  by  prolonging  its  season  of 
bloom,  to  get  relief  from  the  fiercest  competition  for  insect  trade, 
and  so  to  insure  an  abundance  of  vigorous  cross-fertilized  seed, 
this  plant  reveals  at  a  glance  some  of  the  reasons  why  it  has  been 
able  to  establish  itself  so  quickly  throughout  our  vast  area. 

Both  the  white  and  the  yellow  sweet  clover  put  their  leaves 
to  sleep  at  night  in  a  remarkable  manner:  the  three  leaflets  of 
each  leaf  twist  through  an  angle  of  90°,  until  one  edge  of  each 
vertical  blade  is  uppermost.  The  two  side  leaflets,  Darwin  found, 
always  tend  to  face  the  north  with  their  upper  surface,  one  facing 
north-northwest  and  the  other  north-northeast,  while  the  termi- 
nal leaflet  escapes  the  chilling  of  its  sensitive  upper  surface  through 
radiation  by  twisting  to  a  vertical  also,  but  bending  to  either  east 
or  west,  until  it  comes  in  contact  with  the  vertical  upper  surface 
of  either  of  the  side  leaflets.  Thus  the  upper  surface  of  the  ter- 
minal and  of  at  least  one  of  the  side  leaflets  is  sure  to  be  well 
protected  through  the  night;  one  is  "left  out  in  the  cold." 

The  dried  branches  of  sweet  clover  will  fill  a  room  with 
delightful  fragrance  ;  but  they  will  not  drive  away  flies,  nor  pro- 
tect woollens  from  the  ravages  of  moths,  as  old  women  once 
taught  us  to  believe. 

The  ubiquitous  White  or  Dutch  Clover  (Trifolium  repens), 
whose  creeping  branches  send  up  solitary  round  heads  of  white 
or  pinkish  flowers  on  erect,  leafless  sterns,  from  May  to  Decem- 
ber, in  fields,  open  waste  land,  and  cultivated  places  throughout 
our  area,  Europe,  and  Asia,  devotes  itself  to  wooing  bees,  since 
these  are  the  only  insects  that  effect  cross-fertilization  regularly, 
other  visitors  aiding  it  only  occasionally.  When  nets  are  stretched 
over  these  flowers  to  exclude  insects,  only  one-tenth  the  normal 
quantity  of  fertile  seed  is  set  (see  page  101).  Therefore,  for  the 
bee's  benefit,  does  each  little  floret  conceal  nectar  in  a  tube  so  deep 
that  small  pilferers  cannot  reach  it  ;  but  when  a  honey-bee,  for 
example,  depresses  the  keel  of  the  papilionaceous  blossom,  abun- 
dant reward  awaits  him  in  consideration  of  his  services  in  trans- 
ferring pollen.  After  the  floret  which  he  has  been  the  means 
of  fertilizing  closes  over  its  seed-vessel  on  his  departure,  it  gradu- 
ally withers,  grows  brown,  and  hangs  downward,  partly  to  indi- 
14  209 


White  and  Greenish 

cate  to  the  next  bee  that  comes  along  which  florets  in  the  head 
still  contain  nectar,  and  which  are  done  for  ;  partly  to  hide  the 
precious  little  vigorous  green  seed-pod  in  the  centre  of  each  with- 
ered, papery  corolla  from  the  visitation  of  certain  insects  whose 
minute  grubs  destroy  countless  millions  of  the  progeny  of  less  care- 
ful plants.  Thus  the  erect  florets  in  a  head  stand  awaiting  their 
benefactors;  those  drooping  around  the  outer  edge  are  engaged 
in  the  most  serious  business  of  life.  Sometimes  a  solitary  old 
maid  remains  standing,  looking  anxiously  for  a  lover,  at  the  end 
of  the  season.  Usually  all  the  florets  are  then  bent  down  around 
the  stem  in  a  brown  and  crumpled  mass.  But  however  success- 
fully the  clover  guards  its  seeds  from  annihilation,  its  foliage  is 
the  favorite  food  of  very  many  species  of  caterpillars  and  of  all 
grazing  cattle  the  world  around.  This  is  still  another  plant  fre- 
quently miscalled  shamrock.  Good  luck  or  bad  attends  the  find- 
ing of  the  leaves,  when  compounded  of  an  even  or  an  odd  num- 
ber of  leaflets  more  than  the  normal  count,  according  to  the  saying 
of  many  simple-minded  folk. 

The  little  Rabbit's-foot,  Pussy,  Old-field,  or  Stone  Clover 
(T.  arvense)  has  silky  plumed  calices  to  hold  its  minute  whitish 
florets,  giving  the  dense,  oblong  heads  a  charming  softness  and 
dove  color  after  it  has  gone  to  seed.  Like  most  other  clovers,  it 
has  come  to  us  from  the  Old  World. 

Flowering  Spurge 

(Euphorbia  corollatd)  Spurge  family 

Flowers — (Apparently)  white,  small,  borne  in  forked,  long-stalked 
umbels,  "subtended  by  green  bracts  ;  but  the  true  flowers  are 
minute,  and  situated  within  the  white  cup-shaped  involucre, 
usually  mistaken  for  a  corolla.  Staminate  flowers  scattered 
over  inner  surface  of  involucre,  each  composed  of  a  single  sta- 
men on  a  thread-like  pedicel  with  a  rudimentary  calyx  or  tiny 
bract  below  it.  A  solitary  pistillate  flower  at  bottom  of  invo- 
lucre, consisting  of  3-celled  ovary  ;  3  styles,  2-cleft,  at  length 
forming  an  erect  3-lobed  capsule  separating  into  3  2-valved 
carpels.  Stem :  i  to  3  ft.  high,  often  brightly  spotted,  sim- 
ple below,  umbellately  ^-branched  above  (usually).  Leaves: 
Linear,  lance-shaped  or  oblong,  entire;  lower  ones  alternate, 
upper  ones  whorled. 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry  soil,  gravelly  or  sandy. 

Flowering  Season — April — October. 

Distribiition — From  Kansas  and  Ontario  to  the  Atlantic. 


A  ver 

spurge,  w 


y  commonplace  and  uninteresting  looking  weed  is  this 
hich  no  one  but  a  botanist  would  suspect  of  kinship  with 


White  and  Greenish 

the  brilliant  vermilion  poinsettia,  so  commonly  grown  in  American 
greenhouses.  Examination  shows  that  these  little  bright  white 
cups  of  the  flowering  spurge,  simulating  a  five-cleft  corolla,  are  no 
more  the  true  flowers  in  the  one  case  than  the  large  red  bracts 
around  the  poinsettia's  globular  greenish  blossom  involucres  are 
in  the  other.  From  the  milky,  juice  alone  one  might  guess  the 
spurge  to  be  related  to  the  rubber  plant.  Still  another  familiar 
cousin  is  the  stately  castor-oil  plant;  and  while  the  common  dull 
purplish  ipecac  spurge  (E.  Ipecaciianhae)  also  suggests  unpleasant 
doses,  it  is  really  a  member  of  quite  another  family  that  furnishes 
the  old-fashioned  emetic.  The  flowering  spurge,  having  its  stami- 
nate  and  pistillate  flowers  distinct,  depends  upon  flies,  its  truest 
benefactors,  to  transfer  pollen  from  the  former  to  the  latter. 


Staghorn  Sumac;  Vinegar  Tree 

(Rhus  hirta)  Sumac  family 
(R.  typhina  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Greenish  or  yellowish  white,  very  small,  usually  5-parted, 
and  borne  in  dense  upright,  terminal,  pyramidal  clusters.  Stem: 
A  shrub  or  small  tree,  6  to  40  ft.  high,  the  ends  of  branches 
forked  somewhat  like  a  stag's  horns.  Leaves:  Compounded 
of  1 1  to  31  lance-shaped,  saw-edged  leaflets,  dark  green  above, 
pale  below;  the  petioles  and  twigs  often  velvety-hairy.  Fruit: 
Small  globules,  very  thickly  covered  with  crimson  hairs. 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry,  rough  or  rocky  places,  banks,  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — June. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Georgia,  and  westward  1 500  miles. 

Painted  with  glorious  scarlet,  crimson,  and  gold,  the  autumnal 
foliage  of  the  sumacs,  and  even  the  fruit,  so  far  eclipse  their  incon- 
spicuous flowers  in  attractiveness  that  one  quite  ignores  them. 
Not  so  the  small,  short-tongued  bees  (chiefly  Andrenidae)  and  flies 
(Dipteria)  seeking  the  freely  exposed  nectar  secreted  in  five  orange- 
colored  glands  in  the  shallow  little  cups.  As  some  of  the  flowers 
arestaminate  and  some  pistillate,  although  others  show  a  tendency 
to  revert  to  the  perfect  condition  of  their  ancestors,  it  behooves 
them  to  entertain  their  little  pollen-carrying  visitors  generously, 
otherwise  no  seed  can  possibly  be  set.  And  how  the  autumnal 
landscape  would  suffer  from  the  loss  of  the  decorative,  dark-red, 
velvety  panicles  !  Beware  only  of  the  poison  sumac's  deadly, 
round  grayish-white  berries. 

Most  sumacs  contain  more  or  less  tannin  in  their  bark  and 
leaves,  that  are  therefore  eagerly  sought  by  agents  for  the  leather 
merchants.  The  beautiful  smoke  or  mist  tree  (R.  cotinus),  com- 


White  and  Greenish 

monly  imported  from  southern  Europe  to  adorn  our  lawns  (al- 
though a  similar  species  grows  wild  in  the  Southwest),  serves  a 
more  ultilitarian  purpose  in  supplying  commerce  with  a  rich  orange- 
yellow  dye-wood  known  as  young  fustic.  All  this  tribe  of  shrubs 
and  trees  contain  resinous,  milky  juice,  drying  dark  like  varnish, 
which  in  a  Japanese  species  is  transformed  by  the  clever  native 
artisans  into  their  famous  lacquer.  With  a  commercial  instinct 
worthy  of  the  Hebrew,  they  guard  this  process  as  a  national  secret. 


The  Smooth,  Upland,  or  Scarlet  Sumac  (R.  glabra),  similar  to 
the  staghorn,  but  lacking  its  velvety  down,  and  usually  of  much 
lower  growth,  is  the  very  common  and  widely  distributed  shrub  of 
dry  roadsides,  railroad  banks,  and  barren  fields.  Another  low-grow- 
ing, but  more  or  less  downy  upland  sumac,  the  Dwarf,  Black,  or 
Mountain  species  (R.  copallina),  may  be  known  by  its  dark,  glossy 
green  foliage,  pale  on  the  under  side,  and  by  the  broadening  of  the 
stem  into  wings  between  the  leaflets.  Hungry  migrating  birds 
alight  to  feast  on  the  harmless  acid  red  fruit  when  the  gorgeous 
autumnal  foliage  illuminates  their  route  southward.  But  while 
they  are,  of  course,  the  natural  agents  for  distributing  the  plants 
over  the  country,  men  find  that  by  cutting  bits  of  any  sumac  root 
and  planting  them  in  good  garden  soil,  strong  specimens  are 
secured  within  a  year.  An  exquisite  cut-leaved  variety  of  the 
smooth  sumac  adorns  many  fine  lawns. 


Everyone  should  know  the  Poison  Sumac  (R.  f^ernix) — R. 
•venenata  of  Gray — as  the  shrub  above  all  others  to  avoid.  Like  its 
cousin,  the  Poison  or  Three-leaved  Ivy  (R.  radicans),  which 
once  had  the  specific  name  Toxicodendron,  although  Linnaeus 
applied  that  title  to  a  hairy  shrub  of  the  Southern  States,  the  poi- 
son sumac  causes  most  painful  swelling  and  irritation  to  the  skin 
of  some  people,  though  they  do  nothing  more  than  pass  it  by 
when  the  wind  is  blowing  over  it.  Others  may  handle  both  these 
plants  with  impunity.  In  spring  they  are  especially  noisome;  but 
when  the  pores  of  the  skin  are  opened  by  perspiration,  people  who 
are  at  all  sensitive  should  give  them  a  wide  berth  at  any  season. 
Usually  the  poison  sumac  grows  in  wet  or  swampy  ground  ;  its 
bark  is  gray,  its  leaf-stalks  are  red  ;  the  leaves'are  compounded,  of 
fewer  leaflets  than  those  of  the  innocent  sumacs — that  is,  of  from 
seven  to  thirteen — which  are  green  on  both  sides;  the  flowers, 
which  are  dull  whitish-green,  grow  in  loose  panicles  from  the  axils 
of  the  leaves,  and  naturally  the  berries  follow  them  in  the  same 
unusual  situation.  "  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them : "  all  the 
harmless  sumacs  have  red  fruit  clusters  at  the  ends  of  the  branches, 
whereas  both  the  poison  sumac's  and  the  poison  ivy's  axillary 
clusters  are  dull  grayish-white. 

212 


White  and  Greenish 


American  Holly 

(Ilex  opaca)  Holly  family 

Flowers — Very  small,  greenish  or  yellowish  white,  from  3  to  10 
staminate  ones  in  a  short  cyme  ;  fertile  flowers  usually  soli- 
tary, scattered.  Stem :  A  small  tree  of  very  slow  growth,  rarely 
attaining  any  great  height.  Leaves :  Evergreen,  thick,  rigid, 
glossy,  elliptical,  scalloped  edged,  spiny-tipped.  Fruit: 
Round,  red  berries. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Moist  woods  and  thickets. 

Flowering  Season — April — June. 

Distribution — Maine  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  west  to  Texas,  chiefly 
near  the  coast  and  south  of  New  York. 

Happily  we  continue  to  borrow  all  the  beautiful  Old  World 
associations,  poetical  and  legendary,  that  cluster  about  the  holly 
at  Christmas  time,  although  our  native  tree  furnishes  most  of  our 
holiday  decorations.  So  far  back  as  Pliny's  day,  the  European 
holly  had  all  manner  of  supernatural  qualities  attributed  to  it :  its 
insignificant  little  flowers  caused  water  to  freeze,  he  tells  us  ;  be- 
cause it  was  believed  to  repel  lightning,  the  Romans  planted  it 
near  their  houses  ;  and  a  branch  of  it  thrown  after  any  refractory 
animal,  even  if  it  did  not  hit  him,  would  subdue  him  instantly, 
and  cause  him  to  lie  down  meekly  beside  the  stick!  Can  it  be 
that  the  Italian  peasants,  who  still  believe  cattle  kneel  in  their 
stalls  at  midnight  on  the  anniversary  of  Jesus'  birth,  decorate  the 
mangers  on  Christmas  eve  with  holly,  among  other  plants,  because 
of  a  survival  of  this  old  pagan  notion  about  its  subduing  effect  on 
animals? 

Would  that  the  beautiful  holly  of  English  gardens  (/.  Aqui- 
foliuni),  more  glossy  and  spiny  of  leaf  and  redder  of  berry  than  our 
own,  might  live  here  ;  but  it  is  too  tender  to  withstand  New  Eng- 
land winters,  and  the  hot,  dry  summers  farther  south  soon  prove 
fatal.  Ilex  was  the  ancient  name,  not  of  these  plants,  but  of  the 
holly  oak. 

The  Mountain  Holly  (Ilicioides  mucronata) — Nemopanthes 
Canadensis  of  Gray — a  shrub  of  the  northern  swamps,  about  six 
feet  high,  and  by  no  means  confined  to  mountainous  regions, 
since  it  is  also  abundant  in  the  middle  West,  has  smooth-edged, 
elliptic,  petioled  leaves,  ash-colored  bark,  small,  solitary,  narrow- 
petalled  staminate  and  pistillate  flowers  on  long,  threadlike  ped- 
icels from  the  leaf-axils  in  May.  In  August  dull  pale-red  berries 
appear.  Darwin  proved  that  seed  set  with  the  help  of  pollen 
brought  from  distinct  plants  produces  offspring  that  vanquishes 
the  offspring  of  seed  set  with  pollen  brought  from  another  flower 
on  the  same  plant  in  the  struggle  for  existence.  Thus  we  see,  in 

213 


White  and  Greenish 

very  many  ambitious  plants  besides  those  of  the  holly  tribe,  a 
tendency  to  separate  the  male  and  the  female  flowers  as  widely  as 
possible. 

Black  Alder;  Winterberry;  Fever-bush 

(Ilex  verticillata)  Holly  family 

Flowers — Small,  greenish  white,  the  staminate  clusters  2  to  10 
flowered  ;  the  fertile  ones  i  to  3  flowered.  Stem:  A  shrub 
6  to  25  ft.  high.  Leaves:  Oval,  tapering  to  a  point,  about 
i  in.  wide,  saw-edged,  dark  green,  smooth  above,  hairy, 
especially  along  veins  underneath.  Fruit :  Bright  red  ber- 
ries, about  the  size  of  a  pea,  apparently  whorled  around  the 
twigs. 

Preferred  Habitat — Swamps,  ditches,  fence-rows,  and  low  thickets. 

Flowering  Season — June — July. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Florida,  west  to  Missouri. 

Beautiful  bright-red  berries,  dotted  or  clustered  along  the 
naked  twigs  of  the  black  alder,  add  an  indispensable  cheeriness 
to  the  sombre  winter  landscape.  Bunches  of  them,  commonly 
sold  in  the  city  streets  for  household  decoration,  bring  twenty- 
five  cents  each  ;  hence  the  shrubs  within  a  large  radius  of  each 
market  get  ample  pruning  every  autumn.  The  leaves  turn  black 
before  dropping  off. 

The  Smooth  Winterberry  (/.  laevigata),  a  similar  species,  but 
of  more  restricted  range,  ripens  its  larger,  orange-red  berries  ear- 
lier than  the  preceding,  and  before  its  leaves,  which  turn  yellow, 
not  black,  in  autumn,  have  fallen.  Another  distinguishing  feature 
is  that  its  small,  greenish-white  staminate  flowers  grow  on  long, 
very  slender  pedicels  ;  whereas  the  solitary  fertile  flowers  are 
much  nearer  the  stem. 

Bittersweet;  Wax-work;  Staff -tree 

(Celastrus  scandens)  Staff-tree  family 

Flowers — Small,  greenish-white,  ^-parted,  some  staminate,  some 
pistillate  only  ;  in  terminal  compound  racemes  4  in.  long 
or  less.  Stem:  Woody,  twining.  Leaves:  Alternate,  oval, 
tapering,  finely  toothed,  thin,  with  a  tendency  to  show  white 
variations.  Fruit:  A  yellow-orange  berry-like  capsule,  split- 
ting at  maturity  and  curling  back  to  display  the  scarlet,  pulpy 
coating  of  the  seeds  within. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Rich  soil  of  thickets,  fence  rows,  and  wayside 
tangles. 

214 


White  and  Greenish 

Flowering  Season — June. 

Distribution — North  Carolina,  New  Mexico,  and  far  north. 

Not  to  be  hung  above  mirror  and  picture  frames  in  farmhouse 
parlors,  as  we  have  been  wont  to  think,  do  the  brilliant  clusters 
of  orange-red  wax-work  berries  attract  the  eye,  where  they 
brighten  old  walls,  copses,  and  fence  rows  in  autumn  ;  but  to 
advertise  their  charming  wares  to  hungry  migrating  birds,  which 
will  drop  the  seeds  concealed  within  the  red  berry  perhaps  a  thou- 
sand miles  away,  and  so  plant  new  colonies.  On  the  smaller, 
less  specialized  bees  and  flies  the  vine  depends  in  June  to  carry 
pollen  from  its  staminate  flowers  to  the  fertile  ones,  whose  thick, 
erect  pistil  would  wither  without  fruiting  without  their  help. 

But  the  best  laid  plans  of  other  creatures  than  mice  and  men 
"  gang  aft  a-gley."  What  mean  the  little  cottony  tufts  all  along 
the  stems  of  so  very  many  bittersweet  vines,  but  that  these  have 
foes  as  well  as  friends  ?  Curious  little  parasitic  tree-hoppers 
(Membracis  binotata),  which  spend  their  entire  lives  on  the  stems, 
sucking  the  juices  through  their  little  beaks,  just  as  the  aphides 
moor  themselves  to  the  tender  rose-twigs  (p.  99),  might  be  mis- 
taken for  thorns  during  one  of  their  protective  masquerades. 
Again  they  look  like  diminutive  flocks  of  fowl,  their  heads  ever 
pointing  in  one  direction,  no  matter  how  the  vine  may  twist  and 
turn — always  toward  the  top  of  the  branch,  that  they  may  the 
better  siphon  the  sap  down  their  tiny  throats.  Toward  the  end 
of  summer  the  females,  which  have  a  sharp  instrument  at  the 
rear  of  their  bodies,  cut  deeply  into  the  juicy  food-store,  the  cam- 
bium layer  of  bark,  and  there  deposit  their  eggs.  Presently,  a 
nest  being  filled,  the  mother  emits  a  substantial  froth  at  the  end 
of  her  ovipositor,  and  proceeds  to  construct  the  cottony,  corru- 

¥ated  dome  over  her  nursery  which  first  attracted  our  attention, 
his  is  especially  skilful  work,  for  she  works  behind  her,  evi- 
dently not  from  sight,  but  from  instinct  only.  Inasmuch  as  the 
young  hoppers  will  not  come  forth  until  the  following  summer, 
some  such  snug  protection  is  required  during  winter's  cold  and 
snows.  With  hordes  of  little  parasites  constantly  preying  on  its 
juices,  is  it  any  wonder  the  vine  is  often  too  enfeebled  to  produce 
seed,  or  that  the  leaves  lose  part  of  their  color  and  become,  as  we 
say,  variegated?  Occasionally  one  finds  the  cottony  nursery 
domes  of  this  little  hopper  on  the  locust  tree — the  favorite  home 
of  its  big,  noisy  relative,  the  so-called  locust,  or  cicada. 

New  Jersey  Tea;  Wild  Snowball;  Red-root 

(Ceanothus  Americanus)  Buckthorn  family 

Flowers — Small,  white,  on  white  pedicels,  crowded  in  dense,  ob- 
long, terminal  clusters.     Calyx  white,  hemispheric,  5-lobed; 
215 


White  and  Greenish 

5  petals,  hooded  and  long-clawed;  5  stamens  with  long  fila- 
ments; style  short,  3-cleft.  Stems:  Shrubby,  i  to  }  ft.  high, 
usually  several,  from  a  deep  reddish  root.  Leaves :  Alternate, 
ovate-oblong,  acute  at  tip,  finely  saw-edged,  3-nerved,  on 
short  petioles. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Dry,  open  woods  and  thickets. 

Flowering  Season — May — July. 

Distribution — Ontario  south  and  west  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

Light,  feathery  clusters  of  white  little  flowers  crowded  on 
the  twigs  of  this  low  shrub  interested  thrifty  colonial  housewives 
of  Revolutionary  days  not  at  all  ;  the  tender,  young,  rusty,  downy 
leaves  were  what  they  sought  to  dry  as  a  substitute  for  imported 
tea.  Doubtless  the  thought  that  they  were  thereby  evading  George 
the  Third's  tax  and  brewing  patriotism  in  every  kettleful  added  a 
sweetness  to  the  home-made  beverage  that  sugar  itself  could  not 
impart.  The  American  troops  were  glad  enough  to  use  New  Jersey 
tea  throughout  the  war.  A  nankeen  or  cinnamon-colored  dye  is 
made  from  the  reddish  root. 


Northern,  Wild,  Fox,  or  Plum  Grape 

(Vitis  Labrusca)  Grape  family 

Flowers — Greenish,  small,  deliciously  fragrant,  some  staminate, 
some  pistillate,  rarely  perfect ;  the  fertile  flowers  in  more  com- 
pact panicles  than  the  sterile  ones.  Stem :  Climbing  with  the 
help  of  tendrils ;  woody,  bark  loose.  Leaves :  Large,  rounded 
or  lobed,  toothed,  rusty-hairy  underneath,  especially  when 
young,  each  leathery  leaf  opposite  a  tendril  or  a  flower  clus- 
ter. Fruit:  Clusters  containing  a  few  brownish,  purple, 
musky-scented  grapes,  %  in.  across.  Ripe,  August — Sep- 
tember. 

Preferred  Habitat — Sunny  thickets,  loamy  or  gravelly  soil. 

Flowering  Season — June. 

Distribution — New  England  to  Georgia,  west  to  Minnesota  and 
Tennessee. 

,/Esop's  fox  may  never  have  touched  the  grapes  of  fable,  but 
this,  our  wild  species,  certainly  retains  a  strong  foxy  odor,  which 
at  least  suggests  that  he  came  very  near  them.  Tough  pulp  and 
thick  skin  by  no  means  deter  birds  and  beasts  from  feasting  on  this 
fruit,  and  so  dispersing  the  seeds ;  but  mankind  prefers  the  tender, 
delightful  flavored  Isabella,  Catawba,  and  Concord  grapes  derived 
from  it.  The  Massachusetts  man  who  produced  the  Concord  va- 
riety in  the  town  whose  name  he  gave  it,  declares  he  would  be  a 

216 


White  and  Greenish 

millionaire  had  he  received  only  a  penny  royalty  on  every  Con- 
cord grape-vine  planted. 

What  fragrance  is  more  delicious  than  that  of  the  blossoming 
grape  ?  To  swing  in  a  loop  made  by  some  strong  old  vine,  when 
the  air  almost  intoxicates  one  with  its  sweetness  on  a  June  even- 
ing, is  many  a  country  child's  idea  of  perfect  bliss.  Not  until  about 
nine  o'clock  do  the  leaves  "go  to  sleep  "  by  becoming  depressed 
in  the  centre  like  saucers.  This  was  the  signal  for  bedtime  that 
one  child,  at  least,  used  to  wait  for.  We  have  seen  in  the  clema- 
tis (p.  182)  how  its  sensitive  leaf-stalks  hook  themselves  over  any 
support  they  rub  against  ;  but  the  grape-vine  has  gone  a  step  far- 
ther, and  by  discarding  an  occasional  flower  cluster  and  prolong- 
ing the  flower  stalk  into  a  coiling,  forking  tendril  it  moors  itself 
to  the  thicket.  We  know  that  all  tendrils  are  either  transformed 
leaves,  as  in  the  case  of  the  pea  vine,  where  each  branch  of  its 
tendril  represents  a  modified  leaflet  ;  or  they  are  transformed 
flower-stalks  or  other  organs.  Occasionally  the  tendril  of  a  grape- 
vine reveals  its  ancestry  by  bearing  a  blossom  or  a  cluster  of  flow- 
ers, and  sometimes  even  fruit,  about  midway  on  the  coil,  which 
attempts  to  fill  all  offices  at  once  like  Pooh  Bah. 

The  phylloxera  having  destroyed  many  of  the  finest  vineyards 
in  Europe,  it  would  seem  that  Americans  have  the  best  of  chances 
to  supply  the  world  with  high-class  wines,  for  there  is  not  a  State 
in  the  Union  where  the  vine  will  not  flourish.  Here  its  worst 
enemy  is  mildew,  a  parasitical  fungus  which  attacks  the  leaves, 
revealing  itself  in  yellowish-brown  patches  on  the  upper  side,  and 
thin,  frosty  patches  underneath.  Soon  the  leaves  become  sere, 
and  then  they  fall.  The  microscope  reveals  a  miniature  forest 
of  growth  in  each  leaf,  with  the  threadlike  roots  of  the  fungi 
searching  about  the  leaf-cells  for  food.  To  burn  old  leaves,  and 
to  blow  sulphur  over  the  vine  while  it  is  wet,  are  efficacious  reme- 
dies. Bees  and  wasps  which  puncture  grapes  to  feast  on  them, 
are  the  innocent  means  of  destroying  quantities. 

Both  the  Riverside  or  Sweet-scented  Grape  (K.  vulpina) — 
formerly  K.  cordifolia,  var.  riparia — whose  bluish-black,  bloom- 
covered  fruit  begins  to  ripen  in  July;  and  the  Frost,  Chicken, 
Possum,  or  Winter  Grape  (K.  cordifolia),  whose  smaller,  shining 
black  berries  are  not  at  their  best  till  after  frost,  grow  along 
streams  and  preferably  in  rocky  situations.  The  shining,  light 
green,  thin  leaves  of  the  sweet-scented  species  are  sharply  lobed, 
the  three  to  seven  lobes  have  acute  teeth,  and  the  tendrils  are  in- 
termittent. The  frost  grape's  leaves,  which  are  commonly  three 
or  four  inches  wide,  are  deeply  heart-shaped,  entire  (rarely  slightly 
three-lobed),  tapering  to  a  long  point  and  acutely  toothed. 


Another  familiar  member  of  the  Grape  family,  the  Virginia 
Creeper,  False  Grape,  American  or  Five-leaved  Ivy,  also  errone~ 

217 


White  and  Greenish 

ously  called  Woodbine  (Parthenocissus  quinquefolia) — formerly 
Ampelopsis  quinquefolia — is  far  more  charming  in  its  glorious 
autumnal  foliage,  when  its  small  dark  blue  berries  hang  from  red 
peduncles,  than  when  its  insignificant  greenish  flower  clusters  ap- 
pear in  July.  The  leaves,  compounded  of  five  leaflets,  should 
sufficiently  distinguish  the  harmless  vine  from  the  three-leaved 
poison  ivy,  sometimes  confounded  with  it.  From  Manitoba  and 
Mexico  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  even  in  Cuba,  the  Virginia 
creeper  rambles  over  thickets,  fences,  and  walls,  ascends  trees, 
festoons  rocky  woodlands,  drapes  our  verandas,  making  its  way 
with  the  help  of  modified  flower-stalks  that  are  now  branching 
tendrils,  each  branch  bearing  an  adhesive  disk  at  the  end.  "In 
the  course  of  about  two  days  after  a  tendril  has  arranged  its 
branches  so  as  to  press  upon  any  surface,"  says  Darwin,  "its 
curved  tips  swell,  become  bright  red,  and  form  on  their  under 
sides  little  disks  or  cushions  with  which  they  adhere  firmly." 
It  is  supposed  that  these  disks  secrete  a  cement.  At  any  rate,  we 
know  that  they  have  a  very  tenacious  hold,  because  often  one  con- 
tracting tendril,  as  elastic  as  a  steel  spring,  supports,  by  means  of 
these  little  disks,  the  entire  weight  of  the  branch  it  lifts  up.  Dar- 
win concluded  that  a  tendril  with  five  disk-bearing  branches,  on 
which  he  experimented,  would  stand  a  strain  of  ten  pounds,  even 
after  ten  years'  exposure  to  high  winds  and  softening  rains. 


White  Violets 

(Viola)  Violet  family 

Three  small-flowered,  white,  purple-veined,  and  almost  beard- 
less species  which  prefer  to  dwell  in  moist  meadows,  damp, 
mossy  places,  and  along  the  borders  of  streams,  are  the  Lance- 
leaved  Violet  (V.  lanceolata),  the  Primrose-leaved  Violet  (V. 
primulaefolia),  and  the  Sweet  White  Violet  (V.  blanda),  whose 
leaves  show  successive  gradations  from  the  narrow,  tapering, 
smooth,  long-petioled  blades  of  the  first  to  the  oval  form  of  the 
second  and  the  almost  circular,  cordate  leaf  of  the  delicately 
fragrant,  little  white  blanda,  the  dearest  violet  of  all.  Inasmuch 
as  these  are  short-spurred  species,  requiring  no  effort  for  bees  to 
drain  their  nectaries,  no  footholds  in  the  form  of  beards  on  the 
side  petals  are  provided  for  them.  The  purple  veinings  show  the 
stupidest  visitor  the  path  to  the  sweets.  (See  pp.  29-31.) 

The  sprightly  Canada  Violet  (K  Canadensis),  widely  distribu- 
ted in  woodlands,  chiefly  in  hilly  and  mountainous  regions,  rears 
tall,  leafy  stems  terminated  by  faintly  fragrant  white  or  pale  lavender 
blossoms,  purple-tinged  without  and  purple-veined,  the  side 
petals  bearded,  the  long  sepals  tapering  to  sharp  points.  Here 
we  see  a  violet  in  the  process  of  changing  from  the  white  ances- 

218 


White  and  Greenish 

tral  type  to  the  purple  color  which  Sir  John  Lubbock,  among  other 
scientists,  considers  the  highest  step  in  chromatic  evolution.  This 
species  has  heart-shaped,  saw-edged  leaves  which  taper  acutely. 
From  May  even  to  July  is  its  regular  blooming  season  ;  but  the 
delightful  family  eccentricity  of  flowering  again  in  autumn  appears 
to  be  a  confirmed  habit  with  the  Canada  violet. 


Enchanter's   Nightshade 

(Circaea  Lutetiana)  Evening-primrose  family 

Flowers — Very  small,  white,  slender  pedicelled,  in  terminal  and 
lateral  racemes.  Calyx  2-parted,  hairy  ;  2  petals,  2  alternate 
stamens.  Stem:  \  to  2  ft.  high,  slender,  branching,  swollen 
at  nodes.  Leaves  :  Opposite,  tapering  to  a  point,  distantly 
toothed,  2  to  4  in.  long,  slender  petioled.  Fruit :  Pear-shaped, 
2-celled,  densely  covered  with  stiff,  hooked  hairs. 

Preferred  Habitat — Woods  ;  shady  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — June— August. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Georgia,  westward  to  Nebraska. 
Europe  and  Asia. 

Why  Circe,  the  enchantress,  skilled  in  the  use  of  poisonous 
herbs,  should  have  had  her  name  applied  to  this  innocent  and 
insignificant  looking  little  plant  is  not  now  obvious  ;  neither  is 
the  title  of  nightshade  any  more  appropriate. 

Each  tiny  flower  having  a  hairy  calyx,  that  acts  as  a  stockade 
against  ants  and  other  such  crawling  pilferers,  we  suspect  there 
are  abundant  sweets  secreted  in  the  fleshy  ring  at  the  base  of  the 
styles  for  the  benefit  of  the  numerous  flies  seen  hovering  about. 
Among  other  visitors,  watch  the  common  house-fly  alighting  on 
the  knobby  stigma,  a  most  convenient  landing  place,  where  he 
leaves  some  pollen  carried  on  his  underside  from  other  nightshade 
blossoms.  In  clasping  the  bases  of  the  two  pliable  stamens,  his 
only  available  supports  as  he  sucks,  he  will  surely  get  well 
dusted  again,  that  he  may  fertilize  the  next  blossom  he  flies  to  for 
refreshment.  The  nightshade's  little  pear-shaped  seed-vessels, 
armed  with  hooked  bristles  by  which  they  steal  a  ride  on  any 
passing  petticoat  or  trouser-leg,  reveal  at  a  glance  how  this  plant 
has  contrived  to  travel  around  the  globe. 

A  smaller,  weaker  species  (Circaea  alpina),  found  in  cool, 
moist  woods,  chiefly  north,  has  thin,  shining  leaves  and  soft, 
hooked  hairs  on  its  vagabond  seeds.  Less  dependence  seems  to 
be  placed  on  these  ineffective  hooks  to  help  perpetuate  the  plant 
than  on  the  tiny  pink  bulblets  growing  at  the  end  of  an  exceed- 
ingly slender  thread  sent  out  by  the  parent  roots. 

219 


White  and  Greenish 

American  Spikenard;   Indian  Root;  Spignet 

(Aralia  racemosa)  Ginseng  family 

Flowers — Greenish  white,  small,  5-parted,  mostly  imperfect,  in  a 
drooping  compound  raceme  of  rounded  clusters.  Stem:  3  to 
6  ft.  high,  branches  spreading.  Roots:  Large,  thick,  fra- 
grant. Leaves:  Compounded  of  heart-shaped,  sharply 
tapering,  saw-edged  leaflets  from  2  to  5  in.  long,  often 
downy  underneath.  Lower  leaves  often  enormous.  Fruit : 
Dark  reddish-brown  berries. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Rich  open  woods,  wayside  thickets,  light  soil. 

Flowering  Season — J  uly — August. 

Distribution — New  Brunswick  to  Georgia,  west  to  the  Mississippi. 

A  striking,  decorative  plant,  once  much  sought  after  for  its 
medicinal  virtues — still  another  herb  with  which  old  women  de- 
light to  dose  their  victims  for  any  malady  from  a  cold  to  a  car- 
buncle. Quite  a  different  plant,  but  a  relative,  is  the  one  with 
hairy,  spike-like  shoots  from  its  fragrant  roots,  from  which  the 
"very  precious"  ointment  poured  by  Mary  upon  the  Saviour's 
head  was  made.  The  nard,  an  Indian  product  from  that  plant, 
which  is  still  found  growing  on  the  distant  Himalayas,  could 
then  be  imported  into  Palestine  only  by  the  rich. 

The  wild  spikenard,  or  false  Solomon's  seal  (p.  159),  has  not 
the  remotest  connection  with  this  tribe  of  plants.  Inasmuch  as 
some  of  the  American  spikenard's  tiny  flowers  are  staminate  and 
some  pistillate,  while  others  again  are  perfect,  they  depend  upon 
flies  chiefly — but  on  some  wasps  and  beetles,  too — to  transfer 
pollen  and  enable  the  fertile  ones  to  set  seed.  How  certain  of  the 
winter  birds  gormandize  on  the  resinous,  spicy  little  berries!  A 
flock  of  juncos  will  strip  the  fruit  from  every  spikenard  in  the 
neighborhood  the  first  day  it  arrives  from  the  North. 

The  Wild  or  False  Sarsaparilla  {A.  nudicaulis),  so  common 
in  woods,  hillsides,  and  thickets,  shelters  its  three  spreading  um- 
bels of  greenish-white  flowers  in  May  and  June  beneath  a  canopy 
formed  by  a  large,  solitary,  compound  leaf.  The  aromatic  roots, 
which  run  horizontally  sometimes  three  feet  or  more  through  the 
soil,  send  up  a  very  short,  smooth  proper  stem  which  lifts  a  tall 
leaf-stalk  and  a  shorter,  naked  flower-stalk.  The  single  large 
leaf,  of  exquisite  bronzy  tints  when  young,  is  compounded  of  from 
three  to  five  oval,  toothed  leaflets  on  each  of  its  three  divisions. 
The  tiny  five-parted  flowers  have  their  petals  curved  backward 
over  the  calyx  to  make  their  refreshments  more  accessible  for  the 
flies,  on  which  they  chiefly  rely  for  aid  in  producing  those  close 
clusters  of  dark-purple  berries  on  which  migrating  birds  feast  in 


White  and  Greenish 

early  autumn.  By  these  agents  the  plant  has  been  distributed 
from  Newfoundland  to  the  Carolinas,  westward  from  Manitoba 
to  Missouri,  which  is  not  surprising  when  we  remember  that  cer- 
tain birds  travel  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  Great  Lakes  in  a 
single  night.  While  the  true  sarsaparilla  of  medicine  should 
come  from  a  quite  different  herb  that  flourishes  in  Mexico  and 
South  America,  this  one  furnishes  a  commercial  substitute  enor- 
mously used  as  a  blood-purifier  and  cooling  summer  drink.  Bur- 
rowing rabbits  delight  to  nibble  the  long,  slender,  fragrant  roots. 


The  Ginseng  (Panax  quinquefolium) — Aralia  quinquefolia  of 
Gray — found  in  rich  woods  from  Quebec  to  Alabama,  and  west- 
ward to  Nebraska — that  is,  where  found  at  all,  for  much  hunting 
has  all  but  exterminated  it  in  many  regions — bears  a  solitary 
umbel  of  small  yellowish-green,  five-parted,  polygamous  flowers 
in  July  and  August  at  the  end  of  a  smooth  stem  about  a  foot  high. 
Bright  crimson  berries  follow  the  clusters  on  the  female  plants  in 
early  autumn.  Three  long-petioled  leaves,  which  grow  in  a  whorl 
at  the  top  of  the  low  stem,  are  palmately  divided  into  five  thin, 
ovate,  pointed,  and  irregularly  toothed  leaflets.  But  it  is  the 
deep  fusiform  root,  simple  or  branched,  about  which  the  Ameri- 
canized Chinese,  at  least,  are  most  concerned.  For  centuries 
Chinese  physicians  have  ascribed  miraculous  virtues  to  the  Man- 
churian  ginseng.  Not  only  can  it  remove  fatigue  and  restore 
lost  powers,  but  by  its  use  veterans  became  frisky  youths  again 
according  to  these  wise  men  of  the  East.  In  short,  they  consider 
it  the  panacea  for  all  ills  (Panax:  pan=al\,  akos=remedy) — the 
source  of  immortality.  Naturally  the  roots  were  and  are  in  great 
demand,  especially  such  as  branch  so  as  to  resemble  the  human 
form.  (Both  the  Chinese  name  Schin-sen,  and  Garan-toguen,  the 
Indian  one,  are  said  to  mean  like  a  man.  Here  is  an  interesting 
clue  for  the  ethnologists  to  follow  ! )  Imperial  edict  prohibited 
the  Chinese  from  digging  up  their  native  plant  lest  it  be  ex- 
terminated. So  Jesuit  missionaries,  who  discovered  our  similar 
ginseng,  were  not  slow  in  exporting  it  to  China  when  it  was 
literally  worth  its  weight  in  gold.  Indeed,  it  is  always  sold  by 
weight — a  fact  on  which  the  heathen  Chinee  "with  ways  that 
are  dark  and  tricks  that  are  vain  "  not  infrequently  relies.  China- 
men, who  gather  large  quantities  in  our  Western  States  to  sell 
to  the  wholesale  druggists  for  export,  sometimes  drill  holes  into 
the  largest  roots,  pour  in  melted  lead,  and  plug  up  the  drills  so 
ingeniously  that  druggists  refuse  to  pay  for  a  Chinaman's  diggings 
until  they  have  handled  and  weighed  each  root  separately. 


The  Dwarf  Ginseng,  or  Ground  Nut  (P.  Irifolium) — Aralia 
trifolia  of  Gray — whose  little  white  flowers  are  clustered  in  feath- 


White  and  Greenish 

ery,  fluffy  balls  above  the  whorl  of  three  compound  leaves  In 
April  and  May,  chooses  low  thickets  and  moist  woods  for  its 
habitat — often  in  the  same  neighborhood  with  its  larger  relative. 
Yellowish  berries  follow  the  fragrant  white  pompons.  One  must 
burrow  deep,  like  the  rabbits,  to  find  its  round,  pungent,  sweet, 
nut-like  root,  measuring  about  half  an  inch  across,  which  few 
have  ever  seen. 


Wild  Carrot;  Queen  Anne's  Lace;  Bird's-nest 

(Daucus  Carota)  Carrot  family 

Flowers — Small,  of  unequal  sizes  (polygamous),  white,  rarely 
pinkish  gray,  5-parted,  in  a  compound,  flat,  circular  umbel,  the 
central  floret  often  dark  crimson  ;  the  umbels  very  concave  in 
fruit.  An  involucre  of  narrow,  pinnately  cut  bracts.  Stem  : 
i  to  3  ft.  high,  with  stiff  hairs  ;  from  a  deep,  fleshy,  conic  root. 
Leaves :  Cut  into  fine,  fringy  divisions  ;  upper  ones  smaller 
and  less  dissected. 

Preferred  Habitat — Waste  lands,  fields,  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — June — September. 

Distribution — Eastern  half  of  United  States  and  Canada.  Europe 
and  Asia. 

A  pest  to  farmers,  a  joy  to  the  flower-lover,  and  a  welcome 
signal  for  refreshment  to  hosts  of  flies,  beetles,  bees,  and  wasps, 
especially  to  the  paper-nest  builders,  the  sprangly  wild  carrot  lifts 
its  fringy  foliage  and  exquisite  lacy  blossoms  above  the  dry  soil  of 
three  continents.  From  Europe  it  has  come  to  spread  its  delicate 
wheels  over  our  summer  landscape,  until  whole  fields  are  whitened 
by  them  east  of  the  Mississippi.  Having  proved  fittest  in  the 
struggle  for  survival  in  the  fiercer  competition  of  plants  in  the 
over-cultivated  Old  World,  it  takes  its  course  of  empire  westward 
year  by  year,  finding  most  favorable  conditions  for  colonizing  in 
our  vast,  uncultivated  area  ;  and  the  less  aggressive,  native  occu- 
pants of  our  soil  are  only  too  readily  crowded  out.  Would  that 
the  advocates  of  unrestricted  immigration  of  foreign  peasants 
studied  the  parallel  examples  among  floral  invaders  ! 

What  is  the  secret  of  the  wild  carrots'  triumphal  march  ?  As 
usual,  it  is  to  be  sought  chiefly  in  the  flower's  scheme  to  attract 
and  utilize  visitors.  Nectar  being  secreted  in  open  disks  near  to 
one  another,  the  shortest-tongued  insects  can  lick  it  up  from  the 
Umbelliferae  with  even  less  loss  of  time  than  from  the  tubular 
florets  of  the  Compositae.  Over  sixty  distinct  species  of  insects 
may  be  taken  on  the  wild  carrot  by  any  amateur,  since  it  blooms 
while  insect  life  is  at  its  height  ;  but,  as  might  be  expected,  the 
long-tongued  and  color-loving,  specialized  bees  and  butterflies 
do  not  often  waste  time  on  florets  so  easily  drained  by  the  mob. 


White  and  Greenish 

Ants  find  the  stiff  hairs  on  the  stem  disagreeable  obstacles  to 
pilfering  ;  but  no  visitors  seem  to  object  to  the  flowers'  suffocating 
odor. 

One  of  these  lacy,  white  umbels  must  be  examined  under  a 
lens  before  its  delicate  structure  and  perfection  of  detail  can  be  ap- 
preciated. Naturally  a  visitor  is  attracted  first  by  the  largest,  most 
showy  florets  situated  around  the  outer  edge  of  the  wheel,  on 
which  he  leaves  pollen,  brought  from  another  umbel;  and  any 
vitalizing  dust  remaining  on  his  under  side  may  be  left  on  the  less 
conspicuous  hermaphrodite  blossoms  as  he  makes  his  way  toward 
the  centre,  where  the  tiny,  pollen-bearing  florets  are  grouped. 
From  the  latter,  as  he  flies  away,  he  will  carry  fresh  pollen  to  the 
outer  row  of  florets  on  another  umbel,  and  so  on — at  least  this  is 
the  usual  and  highly  advantageous  method.  After  general  fertili- 
zation, the  slender  flower-stalks  curl  inward,  and  the  umbel  forms 
a  hollow  nest  that  gradually  contracts  as  it  dries,  almost,  if  not 
quite,  closing  at  the  top,  albeit  the  fiction  that  bees  and  spiders 
make  their  home  in  the  seeding  umbels  circulates  freely. 

Still  another  fiction  is  that  the  cultivated  carrot,  introduced  to 
England  by  the  Dutch  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign,  was  derived 
from  this  wild  species.  Miller,  the  celebrated  English  botanist 
and  gardener,  among  many  others,  has  disproved  this  statement 
by  utterly  failing  again  and  again  to  produce  an  edible  vegetable 
from  this  wild  root.  When  cultivation  of  the  garden  carrot  lapses 
for  a  few  generations,  it  reverts  to  the  ancestral  type — a  species 
quite  distinct  from  Daucus  Carota. 


Smoother  Sweet-Cicely 

{Washingtonia  longistylis)  Carrot  family 
(Osmorrht'za  longistylis  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Small,  white,  ^-parted  ;  in  few  rayed,  long-peduncled 
umbels,  with  small  bracts  below  them.  Stem:  i^  to  3  ft. 
high,  branching,  from  thick,  fleshy,  fragrant,  edible  roots. 
Leaves :  Lower  ones  often  very  large,  long-petioled,  thrice- 
compound,  and  again  divided,  the  leaflets  ovate,  pointed, 
deeply  toothed,  slightly  downy  ;  upper  leaves  less  com- 
pound, nearly  sessile. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rich,  moist  woods  and  thickets. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  the  Carolinas,  westward  to  Dakota. 

Graceful  in  gesture,  with  delicate,  fernlike  leaves,  and  anise- 
scented  roots  that  children,  like  rabbits,  delight  to  nibble,  the  sweet- 
cicely  attracts  attention  by  its  fragrance,  however  insignificant 

223 


White  and  Greenish 

its  flowers.  In  wooded  places,  such  as  it  prefers  to  dwell  in, 
white  blossoms,  which  are  far  more  noticeable  in  a  dim  light  than 
colored  ones,  and  finely  cut  leaves  that  can  best  withstand  the 
drip  from  trees,  abound.  These  white  umbels  bear  a  large  pro- 
portion of  male,  or  pollen-bearing,  florets  to  the  number  of  her- 
maphrodite, or  two-sexed,  florets  ;  but  as  the  latter  mature  their 
pollen  before  their  stigmas  become  susceptible  to  it,  self-fertiliza- 
tion is  well  guarded  against,  and  cross-fertilization  is  effected  with 
the  help  of  as  many  flies  as  small  bees,  which  come  in  numbers  to 
lick  up  the  nectar  so  freely  exposed  in  consideration  of  their  short 
tongues.  We  have  to  thank  these  little  creatures  for  the  long,  slen- 
der seeds,  armed  with  short  bristles  along  the  ribs,  that  they  may 
snatch  rides  on  our  garments,  together  with  the  beggar-ticks,  bur- 
dock, cleavers,  and  other  vagabond  colonists  in  search  of  unoccu- 
pied ground.  Be  sure  you  know  the  difference  between  sweet- 
cicely  and  the  poisonous  water  hemlock  (p.  225)  before  tasting 
the  former's  spicy  root. 

Was  there  no  more  important  genus — containing,  if  possible, 
red,  white,  and  blue  flowers — to  have  named  in  honor  of  the 
Father  of  his  Country  ? 


Another  member  of  the  Carrot  family,  the  Sanicle  or  Black 
Snakeroot  (Sanicula  Marylandica),  found  blooming  from  May  to 
July  in  such  rich,  moist  woodlands  and  shrubbery  as  the  sweet- 
cicely  prefers,  lifts  spreading,  two  to  four  rayed  umbels  of  insig- 
nificant-looking but  interesting  little  greenish-white  florets.  At 
first  the  tips  of  the  five  petals  are  tucked  into  the  centre  of  each 
little  flower;  underneath  them  the  stamens  are  now  imprisoned 
while  any  danger  of  self-fertilizing  the  stigma  remains.  The  few 
hermaphrodite  florets  have  their  styles  protruding  from  the  start, 
and  incoming  insects  leave  pollen  brought  from  staminate  florets 
on  the  early-maturing  stigmas.  After  cross-fertilization  has  been 
effected,  it  is  the  pistil's  turn  to  keep  out  of  the  way,  and  give  the 
imprisoned  stamens  a  chance  :  the  styles  curve  until  the  stigmas 
are  pressed  against  the  sides  of  the  ovary,  that  not  a  grain  of  pollen 
may  touch  them ;  the  petals  spread  and  release  the  stamens  ;  but 
so  great  is  the  flower's  zeal  not  to  be  fertilized  with  its  own  pollen 
that  it  sometimes  holds  the  anthers  tightly  between  the  petals 
until  all  the  vitalizing  dust  has  been  shed  !  Around  the  hermaph- 
rodite florets  are  a  large  number  of  male  florets  in  each  hemi- 
spheric cluster.  Hooked  bristles  and  slender,  curved  styles  pro- 
trude from  the  little  burrlike  seeds,  that  any  creature  passing  by 
may  give  them  a  lift  to  fresh  colonizing  land  !  The  firm  bluish- 
green  leaves,  palmately  divided  into  from  five  to  seven  oblong, 
irregularly  saw-edged  segments,  the  upper  leaves  seated  on  the 
stem,  the  lower  ones  long-petioled,  help  us  to  identify  this  com- 
mon weed. 

224 


White  and  Greenish 

With  splendid,  vigorous  gesture  the  Cow-Parsnip  (Heracleum 
lanatum)  rears  itself  from  four  to  eight  feet  above  moist,  rich  soil 
from  ocean  to  ocean  in  circumpolar  regions  as  in  temperate  climes. 
A  perfect  Hercules  for  coarseness  and  strength  does  it  appear  when 
contrasted  with  some  of  the  dainty  members  of  the  carrot  tribe. 
In  June  and  July,  when  myriads  of  winged  creatures  are  flying, 
large,  compound,  many-rayed  umbels  of  both  hermaphrodite  and 
male  white  flowers  are  spread  to  attract  their  benefactors  the 
flies,  of  which  twenty-one  species  visit  them  regularly,  besides 
small  bees,  wasps,  and  other  short-tongued  insects,  which  have 
no  difficulty  in  licking  up  the  freely  exposed  nectar.  The  anthers, 
maturing  first,  compel  cross-fertilization,  which  accounts  for  the 
plant's  vigor  and  its  aggressive  march  across  the  continent.  A 
very  stout,  ridged,  hairy  stem,  the  petioled  leaves  compounded 
of  three  broadly  ovate,  lobed  and  saw-edged  divisions,  downy 
on  the  underside,  and  the  great  umbels,  which  sometimes  meas- 
ure a  foot  across,  all  bear  out  the  general  impression  of  a  Hercules 
of  the  fields. 

Fool's  Parsley,  or  Cicely,  or  Dog-poison  (AEthusa  Cyna- 
pium),  a  European  immigrant  found  in  waste  ground  and  rub- 
bish heaps  from  Nova  Scotia  to  New  Jersey  and  westward  to  the 
Mississippi,  should  be  known  only  to  be  avoided.  The  dark 
bluish-green,  finely  divided,  rather  glossy  leaves  when  bruised  do 
not  give  out  the  familiar  fragrance  of  true  parsley;  the  little  narrow 
bracts,  turned  downward  around  each  separate  flower-cluster, 
give  it  a  bearded  appearance,  otherwise  the  white  umbel  suggests 
a  small  wild  carrot  head  of  bloom.  Cows  have  died  from  eat- 
ing this  innocent-looking  little  plant  among  the  herbage  ;  but 
most  creatures  know  by  instinct  that  it  must  not  be  touched. 

Strange  that  a  family  which  furnishes  the  carrot,  parsnipv 
parsley,  fennel,  caraway,  coriander,  and  celery  to  mankind, 
should  contain  many  members  with  deadly  properties.  Fortu- 
nately the  large,  coarse  Water  Hemlock,  Spotted  Cowbane, 
Musquash  Root,  or  Beaver-poison  (Cicuta  maculata)  has  been 
branded  as  a  murderer.  Purple  streaks  along  its  erect  branching 
stem  correspond  to  the  marks  on  Cain's  brow.  Above  swamps 
and  low  ground  it  towers.  Twice  or  thrice  pinnate  leaves,  the 
lower  ones  long-stalked  and  often  enormous,  the  leaflets'  con- 
spicuous veins  apparently  ending  in  the  notches  of  the  coarse, 
sharp  teeth,  help  to  distinguish  it  from  its  innocent  relations 
sometimes  confounded  with  it.  Its  several  tuberiform  fleshy  roots 
contain  an  especially  deadly  poison  ;  nevertheless,  some  highly 
intelligent  animals,  beavers,  rabbits,  and  the  omnivorous  small  boy 
among  others,  have  mistaken  it  for  sweet-cicely  with  fatal  results. 
Indeed,  the  potion  drunk  by  Socrates  and  other  philosophers  and 
15  225 


White  and  Greenish 

criminals  at  Athens,  is  thought  to  have  been  a  decoction  made 
from  the  roots  of  this  very  hemlock.  Many  little  white  flowers 
in  each  cluster  make  up  a  large  umbel  ;  and  many  umbels  to  a 
plant  attract  great  numbers  of  flies,  small  bees,  and  wasps,  which 
sip  the  freely  exposed  nectar  apparently  with  only  the  happiest 
consequences,  as  they  transfer  pollen  from  the  male  to  the  proter- 
androus  hermaphrodite  flowers.  Just  as  the  cow-parsnip  shows 
a  preponderance  of  flies  among  its  visitors,  so  the  water  hemlock 
seems  to  attract  far  more  bees  and  wasps  than  any  of  the  umbel- 
bearing  carrot  tribe.  It  blooms  from  the  end  of  June  through 
August. 

Still  another  poisonous  species  is  the  Hemlock  Water-Parsnip 
(Stum  cicutaefoliwii) ,  found  in  swampy  places  throughout 
Canada  and  the  United  States  from  ocean  to  ocean.  The  com- 
pound, long-rayed  umbels  of  small  white  flowers,  fringy-bracted 
below,  which  measure  two  or  three  inches  across  ;  the  extremely 
variable  pinnate  leaves,  which  may  be  divided  into  from  three  to 
six  pairs  of  narrow  and  sharply  toothed  leaflets  (or  perhaps  the 
lower  long-stalked  ones  as  finely  dissected  as  a  wild  carrot  leaf 
where  they-grow  in  water),  and  the  stout,  grooved,  branching 
stem,  from  two  to  six  feet  tall,  are  its  distinguishing  characteristics. 
In  these  umbels  it  will  be  noticed  there  are  far  more  hermaphro- 
dite, or  two-sexed,  florets  (maturing  their  anthers  first),  than 
there  are  male  ones  ;  consequently  quantities  of  unwelcome  seed 
are  set  with  the  help  of  small  bees,  wasps,  and  flies,  which  receive 
generous  entertainment  from  July  to  October. 

The  Mock  Bishop-weed  (Ptilimnium  capillaceum),  a  slender, 
delicate,  dainty  weed  found  chiefly  in  salt-water  meadows  from 
Massachusetts  to  Florida  and  around  the  Gulf  coast  to  Texas,  has 
very  finely  dissected,  fringy  leaves  and  compound  umbels  two  to 
four  inches  across,  of  tiny  white  florets,  with  threadlike  bracts 
below.  It  blooms  throughout  the  summer. 


Flowering  Dogwood 

(Cornus  florida)  Dogwood  family 

Flowers — (Apparently)  large,  white  or  pinkish,  the  four  conspicu- 
ous parts  simulating  petals,  notched  at  the  top,  being  really 
bracts  of  an  involucre  below  the  true  flowers,  clustered  in 
the  centre,  which  are  very  small,  greenish  yellow,  4-parted, 
perfect.  Stem :  A  large  shrub  or  small  tree,  wood  hard,  bark 
rough.  Leaves  :  Opposite,  oval,  entire-edged,  petioled,  paler 
underneath.  Fruit:  Clusters  of  egg-shaped  scarlet  berries, 
tipped  with  the  persistent  calyx, 
226 


White  and  Greenish 


Preferred  Habitat—  Woodlands,  rocky  thickets,  wooded  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — April — June. 

Distribution — Maine  to  Florida,  west  to  Ontario  and  Texas. 

Has  Nature's  garden  a  more  decorative  ornament  than  the 
flowering  dogwood,  whose  spreading  flattened  branches  whiten 
the  woodland  borders  in  May  as  if  an  untimely  snowstorm  had 
come  down  upon  them,  and  in  autumn  paint  the  landscape  with 
glorious  crimson,  scarlet,  and  gold,  dulled  by  comparison  only  with 
the  clusters  of  vivid  red  berries  among  the  foliage  ?  Little  wonder 
that  nurserymen  sell  enormous  numbers  of  these  small  trees  to 
be  planted  on  lawns.  The  horrors  of  pompous  monuments, 
urns,  busts,  shafts,  angels,  lambs,  and  long-drawn-out  eulogies  in 
stone  in  many  a  cemetery  are  mercifully  concealed  in  part  by 
these  boughs,  laden  with  blossoms  of  heavenly  purity. 

"  Let  dead  names  be  eternized  in  dead  stone, 
But  living  names  by  living  shafts  be  known. 
Plant  thou  a  tree  whose  leaves  shall  sing 
Thy  deeds  and  thee  each  fresh,  recurrent  spring." 

Fit  symbol  of  immortality  !  Even  before  the  dogwood's 
leaves  fall  in  autumn,  the  round  buds  for  next  year's  bloom  appear 
on  the  twigs,,  to  remain  in  consoling  evidence  all  winter  with  the 
scarlet  fruit.  When  the  buds  begin  to  swell  in  spring,  the  four 
reddish-purple,  scale-like  bracts  expand,  revealing  a  dozen  or  more 
tiny  green  flowers  clustered  within  ;  for  the  large,  white,  petal- 
like  parts,  with  notched,  tinted,  and  puckered  lips,  into  which 
these  reddish  bracts  speedily  develop,  and  which  some  of  us  have 
mistaken  for  a  corolla,  are  not  petals  at  all — not  the  true  flowers — 
merely  appendages  around  the  real  ones,  placed  there,  like  showy 
advertisements,  to  attract  customers.  Nectar,  secreted  in  a  disk  on 
each  minute  ovary,  is  eagerly  sought  by  little  Andrena  and  other 
bees,  besides  flies  and  butterflies.  Insects  crawling  about  these 
clusters,  whose  florets  are  all  of  one  kind,  get  their  heads  and  un- 
dersides dusted  with  pollen,  which  they  transfer  as  they  suck. 
Hungry  winter  birds,  which  bolt  the  red  fruit  only  when  they  can 
get  no  choicer  fare,  distribute  the  smooth,  indigestible  stones  far 
and  wide. 

When  the  Massachusetts  farmers  think  they  hear  the  first 
brown  thrasher  in  April  advising  them  to  plant  their  Indian  corn, 
reassuringly  calling,  "Drop  it,  drop  it — cover  it  up,  cover  it  up — 
pull  it  up,  pull  it  up,  pull  it  up"  (Thoreau),  they  look  to  the  dog- 
wood flowers  to  confirm  the  thrasher's  advice  before  taking  it. 

The  Low  or  Dwarf  Cornel,  or  Bunchberry  (C.  Canadensis), 
whose  scaly  stem  does  its  best  to  attain  a  height  of  nine  inches, 
bears  a  whorl  of  from  four  to  six  oval,  pointed,  smooth  leaves 


White  and  Greenish 

at  the  summit.  From  the  midst  of  this  whorl  comes  a  cluster  of 
minute  greenish  florets,  encircled  by  four  to  six  large,  showy, 
white  petal-like  bracts,  quite  like  a  small  edition  of  the  flowering 
dogwood  blossom.  Tight  clusters  of  round  berries,  that  are  lifted 
upward  on  a  gradually  lengthened  peduncle  after  the  flowers  fade 
(May — July),  brighten  with  vivid  touches  of  scarlet  shadowy, 
mossy  places  in  cool,  rich  woods,  where  the  dwarf  cornels,  with 
the  partridge  vine,  twin  flower,  gold  thread,  and  fern,  form  the 
most  charming  of  carpets. 


Other  common  dogwoods  there  are — shrubs  from  three  to  ten 
feet  in  height — which  bear  flat  clusters  of  small  white  flowers 
without  the  showy  petal-like  bracts,  imitating  a  corolla,  as  in  the 
two  preceding  species,  but  each  little  four-parted  blossom  attract- 
ing its  miscellaneous  crowd  of  benefactors  by  association  with 
dozens  of  its  counterparts  in  a  showy  cyme.  Because  these  flow- 
ers expand  farther  than  the  minute  florets  of  the  dwarf  cornel  or 
the  flowering  dogwood,  and  the  sweets  are  therefore  more  acces- 
sible, all  the  insects  which  fertilize  them  come  to  the  shrub  dog- 
woods too,  and  in  addition  very  many  beetles,  to  which  their 
odor  seems  especially  attractive.  ("  Odore  carabico  o  scarabeo  " — 
Delpino.)  The  Round-leaved  Cornel  or  Dogwood  (C.  circinata), 
found  on  shady  hillsides,  in  open  woodlands,  and  roadside  thickets 
— especially  in  rocky  districts — from  Nova  Scotia  to  Virginia,  and 
westward  to  Iowa,  may  be  known  by  its  greenish,  warty  twigs; 
its  broadly  ovate,  or  round  petioled,  opposite  leaves,  short- 
tapering  to  a  point,  and  downy  beneath;  and,  in  May  and  June,  by 
its  small,  flat,  white  flower-clusters  about  two  inches  across,  that 
are  followed  by  light-blue  (not  edible)  berries. 

Even  more  abundant  is  the  Silky  Cornel,  Kinnikinnick,  or 
Swamp  Dogwood  (C.  Amonum)—C.  sericea  of  Gray — found  in 
low,  wet  ground,  and  beside  streams,  from  Nebraska  to  the  At- 
lantic Ocean,  south  to  Florida  and  north  to  New  Brunswick.  Its 
dull-reddish  twigs,  oval  or  oblong  leaves,  rounded  at  the  base, 
but  tapering  to  a  point  at  the  apex,  and  usually  silky-downy 
with  fine,  brownish  hairs  underneath  (to  prevent  the  pores  from 
clogging  with  vapors  arising  from  its  damp  habitat)  ;  its  rather 
compact,  flat  clusters  of  white  flowers  from  May  to  July,  and  its 
bluish  berries  are  its  distinguishing  features.  The  Indians  loved  to 
smoke  its  bark  for  its  alleged  tonic  effect.  (Illustration,  p.  252.) 

The  Red-osier  Cornel  or  Dogwood  (C.  stolonifera),  which  has 
spread,  with  the  help  of  running  shoots,  through  the  soft  soil  of 
its  moist  retreats,  over  the  British  Possessions  north  of  us  and 
throughout  the  United  States  from  ocean  to  ocean,  except  at  the 
extreme  south,  may  be  known  by  its  bright  purplish-red  twigs  ; 
its  opposite,  slender,  petioled  leaves,  rather  abruptly  pointed  at 
the  apex,  roughish  on  both  sides,  but  white  or  nearly  so  beneath  ; 

228 


White  and  Greenish 

its  small,  flat-topped  white  flower-clusters  in  June  or  July  ;  and, 
finally,  by  its  white  or  lead-colored  fruit. 

In  good,  rich,  moist  soil  another  white-fruited  species,  the 
Panicled  Cornel  or  Dogwood  (C.  candidissima) — C.  paniculata  of 
Gray — rears  its  much-branched,  smooth,  gray  stems.  In  May  or 
June  the  shrub  is  beautiful  with  numerous  convex,  loose  clusters 
of  white  flowers  at  the  ends  of  the  twigs.  So  far  do  the  stamens 
diverge  from  the  pistil  that  self-pollination  is  not  likely  ;  but  an 
especially  large  number  of  the  less  specialized  insects,  seeking  the 
freely  exposed  nectar,  do  all  the  necessary  work  as  they  crawl 
about  and  fly  from  shrub  to  shrub.  This  species  bears  compara- 
tively long  and  narrow  leaves,  pale  underneath.  Its  range  is  from 
Maine  to  the  Carolinas  and  westward  to  Nebraska. 

Pokeweed;  Scoke  ;  Pigeon-berry;   Ink-berry; 
Garget  * 

(Phytolacca  decandrd)  Pokeweed  family 

Flowers — White,  with  a  green  centre,  pink-tinted  outside,  about 
y±  in.  across,  in  bracted  racemes  2  to  8  in.  long.  Calyx  of  4 
or  5  rounded  persistent  sepals,  simulating  petals  ;  no  corolla  ; 
10  short  stamens;  lo-celled  ovary,  green,  conspicuous;  styles 
curved.  Stem :  Stout,  pithy,  erect,  branching,  reddening 
toward  the  end  of  summer,  4  to  10  ft.  tall,  from  a  large, 
perennial,  poisonous  root.  Leaves:  Alternate,  petioled,  ob- 
long to  lance-shaped,  tapering  at  both  ends,  8  to  12  in.  long. 
Fruit:  Very  juicy,  dark  purplish  berries,  hanging  in  long 
clusters  from  reddened  footstalks  ;  ripe,  August — October. 

Preferred  Habitat — Roadsides,  thickets,  field  borders,  and  waste 
soil,  especially  in  burnt-over  districts. 

Flowering  Season — June — October. 

Distribution — Maine  and  Ontario  to  Florida  and  Texas. 

When  the  pokeweed  is  "  all  on  fire  with  ripeness,"  as  Thoreau 
said  ;  when  the  stout,  vigorous  stem  (which  he  coveted  for  a 
cane),  the  large  leaves,  and  even  the  footstalks,  take  on  splendid 
tints  of  crimson  lake,  and  the  dark  berries  hang  heavy  with  juice 
in  the  thickets,  then  the  birds,  with  increased,  hungry  families, 
gather  in  flocks  as  a  preliminary  step  to  travelling  southward. 
Has  the  brilliant,  strong-scented  plant  no  ulterior  motive  in  thus 
attracting  their  attention  at  this  particular  time  ?  Surely  !  Rob- 
ins, flickers,  and  downy  woodpeckers,  chewinks  and  rose-breasted 
grosbeaks,  among  other  feathered  agents,  may  be  detected  in  the 
act  of  gormandizing  on  the  fruit,  whose  undigested  seeds  they  will 

*  This  species  was  accidentally  misplaced.     It  should  have  preceded  the  Starry 
Campion. 

229 


White  and  Greenish 

disperse  far  and  wide.  Their  droppings  form  the  best  of  fertilizers 
for  young  seedlings  ;  therefore  the  plants  which  depend  on  birds 
to  distribute  seeds,  as  most  berry-bearers  do,  send  their  chil- 
dren abroad  to  found  new  colonies,  well  equipped  for  a  vigor- 
ous start  in  life.  What  a  hideous  mockery  to  continue  to  call 
this  fruit  the  pigeon-berry,  when  the  exquisite  bird  whose  favorite 
food  it  once  was,  has  been  annihilated  from  this  land  of  liberty 
by  the  fowler's  net!  And  yet  flocks  of  wild  pigeons,  containing 
not  thousands  but  millions  of  birds,  nested  here  even  thirty 
years  ago.  When  the  market  became  glutted  with  them,  they 
were  fed  to  hogs  in  the  West  ! 

Children,  and  some  grown-ups,  find  the  deep  magenta  juice 
of  the  ink-berry  useful.  Notwithstanding  the  poisonous  proper- 
ties of  the  root,  in  some  sections  the  young  shoots  are  boiled  and 
eaten  like  asparagus,  evidently  with  no  disastrous  consequences. 
For  any  service  this  plant  may  render  to  man  and  bird,  they  are 
under  special  obligation  to  the  little  Halictus  bees,  but  to  other 
short-tongued  bees  and  flies  as  well.  These  small  visitors,  flying 
from  such  of  the  flowers  as  mature  their  anthers  first,  carry  pollen 
to  those  in  the  female,  or  pistillate,  stage.  Exposed  nectar  rewards 
their  involuntary  kindness.  In  stormy  weather,  when  no  benefac- 
tors can  fly,  the  flowers  are  adapted  to  fertilize  themselves 
through  the  curving  of  the  styles. 


White   Alder;    Sweet    Pepperbush;    Aider- 
leaved    Clethra 

(Clethra  alnifolia)  White  Alder  family 

Flowers — Very  fragrant,  white,  about  YZ  in.  across,  borne  in  long, 
narrow,  upright,  clustered  spikes,  with  awl-shaped  bracts. 
Calyx  of  5  sepals  ;  5  longer  petals  ;  10  protruding  stamens,  the 
i  style  longest.  Stem:  A  much-branched  shrub.^to  loft.  high. 
Leaves :  Alternate,  oblong  or  ovate,  finely  saw-edged  above 
the  middle  at  least,  green  on  both  sides,  tapering  at  base  into 
short  petioles. 

Preferred  Habitat — Low,  wet  woodland  and  roadside  thickets  ; 
swamps  ;  beside  slow  streams  ;  meadows. 

Flowering  Season — July — August. 

Distribution — Chiefly  near  the  coast,  in  States  bordering  the  Atlantic 
Ocean. 

Like  many  another  neglected  native  plant,  the  beautiful  sweet 
pepperbush  improves  under  cultivation  ;  and  when  the  departed 
lilacs,  syringa,  snowball,  and  blossoming  almond,  found  with 
almost  monotonous  frequency  in  every  American  garden,  leave  a 
blank  in  the  shrubbery  at  midsummer,  these  fleecy  white  spikes 

230 


SWEET    PEPPERBUSH 
(CMhra  alnifolia) 


STAR-FLOWER 
(Trientalis  Americana) 


EARLY    SAXIFRAGE 
(Saxifraga   Virginiensis) 


White  and  Greenish 

should  exhale  their  spicy  breath  about  our  homes.  But  wild 
flowers,  like  a  prophet,  may  remain  long  without  honor  in  their 
own  country.  This  and  a  similar  but  more  hairy  species  found  in 
the  Alleghany  region,  the  Mountain  Sweet  Pepperbush  (C.  acu- 
minata),  with  pointed  leaves,  pale  beneath,  and  spreading  or 
drooping  flower-spikes,  go  abroad  to  be  appreciated.  Planted 
beside  lakes  and  streams  on  noblemen's  estates,  how  overpower- 
ing must  their  fragrance  be  in  the  heavy,  moisture-laden  air  of 
England  1  Even  in  our  drier  atmosphere,  it  hangs  about  the 
thickets  like  incense. 


Round-leaved  Pyrola;  Pear-leaved,  or  False 
Wintergreen ;  Indian  or  Canker  Lettuce 

{Pyrola  roinndifolia)  Wintergreen  family 

Flowers — Very  fragrant,  white,  in  a  spike ;  6  to  20,  nodding  from 
an  erect,  bracted  scape  6  to  20  in.  high.  Calyx  5-parted  ; 
corolla,  over  /^  in.  across,  of  5  concave,  obtuse  petals  ;  10 
stamens,  i  protruding  pistil,  style  curved,  stigma  5-lobed. 
Leaves :  All  spreading  from  the  base  by  margined  petioles  ; 
shining  leathery  green,  round  or  broadly  oval,  obtuse,  I  %  to 
3  in.  long,  persistent  through  the  winter. 

Preferred  Habitat — Open  woods. 

Flowering  Season — June — July. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Georgia,  west  to  Ohio  and  Minnesota. 

Deliciously  fragrant  little  flowers,  nodding  from  an  erect, 
slender  stalk,  when  seen  at  a  distance  are  often  mistaken  for  lilies- 
of-the-valley  growing  wild.  But  closer  inspection  of  the  rounded, 
pearlike  leaves  in  a  cluster  from  the  running  root,  and  the  concave, 
not  bell-shaped,  white,  waxen  blossoms,  with  the  pistil  protruding 
and  curved,  indicate  the  commonest  of  the  pyrolas.  Some  of  its 
kin  dwell  in  bogs  and  wet  places,  but  this  plant  and  the  shin-leaf 
carpet  drier  woodland  where  dwarf  cornels,  partridge  vines,  pip- 
sissewa,  and  gold-thread  weave  their  charming  patterns  too. 
Certain  of  the  lovely  pyrola  clan,  whose  blossoms  range  from 
greenish  white,  flesh-color,  and  pink  to  deep  purplish  rose,  have 
so  many  features  in  common  they  were  once  counted  mere  varie- 
ties of  this  round-leaved  wintergreen — an  easy-going  classification 
broken  up  by  later-day  systematists,  who  now  rank  the  varieties 
as  distinct  species.  It  will  be  noticed  that  all  these  flowers  have 
their  anthers  erect  in  the  bud  but  reversed  at  flowering  time,  each 
of  the  two  sacs  opening  by  a  pore  which,  in  reality,  is  at  the  base 
of  the  sac,  though  by  reversion  it  appears  to  be  at  the  top.  To 
these  pores  small  bees  and  flies  fasten  their  short  lips  to  feed  on 
pollen,  some  of  which  will  be  necessarily  jarred  out  on  them  as 

231 


White  and  Greenish 

they  struggle  for  a  foothold  on  the  stamens,  and  will  be  carried 
by  them  to  another  flower's  protruding  stigma,  which  impedes 
their  entrance  purposely  to  receive  the  imported  pollen. 

By  reason  of  the  old  custom  of  clapping  on  a  so-called  "  shin- 
plaster  "  to  every  bruise,  regardless  of  its  location  on  the  human 
body,  a  lovely  little  plant,  whose  leaves  were  once  counted  a  first 
aid  to  the  injured,  still  suffers  instead  under  an  unlovely  name. 
The  Shin-leaf  (P.  elliptica)  sends  up  a  naked  flower-stalk,  scaly 
at  the  base,  often  with  a  bract  midway,  and  bearing  at  the  top  from 
seven  to  fifteen  very  fragrant,  nodding,  waxen,  greenish-white 
blossoms,  similar  to  the  round-leaved  wintergreen's.  But  on  the 
thinner,  dull,  dark-green,  upright  leaves,  with  slight  wavy  inden- 
tations, scarcely  to  be  called  teeth,  on  the  margins,  their  shorter 
leaf-stalks  often  reddish,  one  chiefly  depends  to  name  this  common 
plant.  It  is  usually  found,  in  company  with  a  few  or  many  of  its 
fellows,  in  rich  woodlands  so  far  west  as  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
blooming  from  June  to  August,  according  to  the  climate  of  its  wide 
range. 

When  the  little  Serrated  or  One-sided  Wintergreen  (P.  se- 
cundd)  first  sends  up  its  slender  raceme  in  June  or  July,  it  is  erect ; 
but  presently  the  small,  greenish-white  flowers,  opening  irreg- 
ularly along  one  side,  appear  to  weigh  it  downward  into  a  curve. 
Usually  several  bracted  scapes  rise  from  a  running,  branched  root- 
stock,  to  a  height  of  from  three  to  (rarely)  ten  inches  above  a  clus- 
ter of  basal  evergreen  leaves.  These  latter  are  rather  thin,  oval, 
slightly  pointed,  wavy  or  slightly  saw-edged,  the  midrib  prom- 
inent above  and  below.  A  peculiarity  of  the  flowers  is,  that  their 
petals  are  partially  welded  together  into  little  bells,  with  the  clap- 
per (alias  the  straight  green  pistil)  protruding,  and  the  stamens 
united  around  its  base.  After  the  blossoms  have  been  fertilized, 
the  tiny,  round,  five-scalloped  seed-capsules,  with  the  pistil  still 
protruding,  remain  in  evidence  for  months,  as  is  usual  in  the  py- 
rola  clan.  Small  as  the  plant  is,  it  has  managed  to  distribute  it- 
self over  Europe,  Asia,  and  the  woods  and  thickets  of  our  own 
land  from  Labrador  to  Alaska,  southward  to  California,  Mexico, 
and  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Another  little  globe-trotter,  so  insignificant  in  size  that  one  is 
apt  to  overlook  it  until  its  surprisingly  large  blossom  appears  in 
June  or  July,  is  the  One-flowered  Wintergreen  (Moneses  uniftora), 
found  in  cool  northern  woods,,  especially  about  the  roots  of  pines, 
in  such  yielding  soil  as  will  enable  its  long  stem  to  run  just  below 
the  surface.  One-flowered  Pyrola,  it  is  often  called,  although  it 
belongs  to  a  genus  all  its  own.  A  boldly  curved  stalk,  like  a 
miniature  Bo-peep  crook,  enables  the  solitary  white  or  pink 

232 


White  and  Greenish 

widely  open  flower  to  droop  from  the  tip,  thus  protecting  its  pre- 
cious contents  from  rain,  and  from  crawling  pilferers,  to  whom  a 
pendent  blossom  is  as  inaccessible  as  a  hanging  bird's  nest  is  to 
snakes.  This  five-petalled  waxen  flower,  half  an  inch  across  or 
over,  with  its  ten  white,  yellow-tipped  stamens,  and  green,  club- 
shaped  pistil  projecting  from  a  conspicuous  round  ovary,  never 
nods  more  than  six  inches  above  the  ground,  often  at  only  half 
that  height.  When  there  is  no  longer  need  for  the  stalk  to  crook, 
that  is  to  say,  after  the  flower  has  begun  to  fruit,  it  gradually 
straightens  itself  out  so  that  the  little  seed-capsule,  with  the  style 
and  its  five-lobed  stigma  still  persistent,  is  held  erect.  The  thin, 
rounded,  finely  notched  leaves,  measuring  barely  an  inch  in  length, 
are  clustered  in  whorls  next  the  ground.  Whether  one  comes 
upon  colonies  of  this  gregarious  little  plant,  or  upon  a  lonely 
straggler,  the  "single  delight"  (moneses),  as  Dr.  Gray  called  the 
solitary  flower,  is  one  of  the  joys  of  a  tramp  through  the  summer 
woods. 


Indian    Pipe;     Ice-plant;     Ghost-flower; 
Corpse-plant 

(Monotropa  uniflora)  Indian-pipe  family 

Flowers — Solitary,  smooth,  waxy,  white  (rarely  pink),  oblong-bell 
shaped,  nodding  from  the  tip  of  a  fleshy,  white,  scaly  scape 
4  to  10  in.  tall.  Calyx  of  2  to  4  early-falling  white  sepals;  4 
or  5  oblong,  scale-like  petals;  8  or  10  tawny,  hairy  sta- 
mens; a  5-celled,  egg-shaped  ovary,  narrowed  into  the  short, 
thick  style.  Leaves:  None.  Roots:  A  mass  of  brittle  fibres, 
from  which  usually  a  cluster  of  several  white  scapes  arises. 
Fruit :  A  5-valved,  many-seeded,  erect  capsule. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Heavily  shaded,  moist,  rich  woods,  especially 
under  oak  and  pine  trees. 

Flowering  Season — June — August. 

Distribution — Almost  throughout  temperate  North  America. 

Colorless  in  every  part,  waxy,  cold,  and  clammy,  Indian  pipes 
rise  like  a  company  of  wraiths  in  the  dim  forest  that  suits  them 
well.  Ghoulish  parasites,  uncanny  saprophytes,  for  their  matted 
roots  prey  either  on  the  juices  of  living  plants  or  on  the  decaying 
matter  of  dead  ones,  how  weirdly  beautiful  and  decorative  they 
are!  The  strange  plant  grows  also  in  Japan,  and  one  can  readily 
imagine  how  fascinated  the  native  artists  must  be  by  its  chaste 
charms. 

Yet  to  one  who  can  read  the  faces  of  flowers,  as  it  were,  it 
stands  a  branded  sinner.  Doubtless  its  ancestors  were  industri- 
ous, honest  creatures,  seeking  their  food  in  the  soil,  and  digesting 

233 


White  and  Greenish 

it  with  the  help  of  leaves  filled  with  good  green  matter  (chloro- 
phyll) on  which  virtuous  vegetable  life  depends;  but  some  an- 
cestral knave  elected  to  live  by  piracy,  to  drain  the  already  di- 
gested food  of  its  neighbors  ;  so  the  Indian  pipe  gradually  lost  the 
use  of  parts  for  which  it  had  need  no  longer,  until  we  find  it  to-day 
without  color  and  its  leaves  degenerated  into  mere  scaly  bracts. 
Nature  has  manifold  ways  of  illustrating  the  parable  of  the  ten 
pieces  of  money.  Spiritual  law  is  natural  law:  "  From  him  that 
hath  not,  even  that  he  hath  shall  betaken  away."  Among  plants 
as  among  souls,  there  are  all  degrees  of  backsliders.  The  fox- 
glove, which  is  guilty  of  only  sly,  petty  larceny,  wears  not  the 
equivalent  of  the  striped  suit  and  the  shaved  head;  nor  does  the 
mistletoe,  which  steals  crude  food  from  the  tree,  but  still  digests  it 
itself,  and  is  therefore  only  a  dingy  yellowish  green.  Such  plants, 
however,  as  the  broom-rape,  pine-sap,  beech-drops,  the  Indian 
pipe,  and  the  dodder — which  marks  the  lowest  stage  of  degrada- 
tion of  them  all — appear  among  their  race  branded  with  the  mark 
of  crime  as  surely  as  was  Cain. 

No  wonder  this  degenerate  hangs  its  head;  no  wonder  it 
grows  black  with  shame  on  being  picked,  as  if  its  wickedness  were 
only  just  then  discovered  !  To  think  that  a  plant  related  on  one 
side  to  many  of  the  loveliest  flowers  in  Nature's  garden — the  aza- 
leas, laurels,  rhododendrons,  and  the  bonny  heather — and  on  the 
other  side  to  the  modest  but  no  less  charming  wintergreen  tribe, 
should  have  fallen  from  grace  to  such  a  depth!  Its  scientific 
name,  meaning  a  flower  once  turned,  describes  it  during  only  a 
part  of  its  career.  When  the  minute,  innumerable  seeds  begin  to 
form,  it  proudly  raises  its  head  erect,  as  if  conscious  that  it  had 
performed  the  one  righteous  act  of  its  life. 

Labrador  Tea 

(Ledum  Groenlandicum)  Heath  family 
(L.  latifolium  of  Gray) 

flowers — White,  5-parted,  y2  in.  across  or  less,  numerous,  borne 
in  terminal,  umbellate  clusters  rising  from  scaly,  sticky  bud- 
bracts.  Stem:  A  compact  shrub  i  to  4  ft.  high,  resinous, 
the  twigs  woolly-hairy.  Leaves  :  Alternate,  thick,  evergreen, 
oblong,  obtuse,  small,  dull  above,  rusty-woolly  beneath,  the 
margins  curled. 

Preferred  Habitat — Swamps,  bogs,  wet  mountain  woods. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution — Greenland  to  Pennsylvania,  west  to  Wisconsin. 

Whoever  has  used  the  homoeopathic  lotion  distilled  from  the 
leaves  of  Ledum  palusire,  a  similar  species  found  at  the  far  North, 

234 


White  and  Greenish 

knows  the  tealike  fragrance  given  forth  by  the  leaves  of  this  com- 
mon shrub  when  crushed  in  a  warm  hand.  But  because  the 
homceopathists  claim  that  like  is  cured  by  like,  are  we  to  assume 
that  these  little  bushes,  both  of  which  afford  a  soothing  lotion, 
also  irritate  and  poison  ?  It  may  be  ;  for  they  are  next  of  kin 
to  the  azaleas,  laurels,  and  rhododendrons,  known  to  be  injuri- 
ous since  Xenophon's  day  (p.  126).  At  the  end  of  May,  when 
the  Labrador  tea  is  white  with  abundant  flower-clusters,  one 
cannot  but  wonder  why  so  desirable  an  acquisition  is  never  seen 
in  men's  gardens  here  among  its  relatives.  Over  a  hundred  years 
ago  the  dense,  compact  little  shrub  was  taken  to  England  to  adorn 
sunny  bog-gardens  on  fine  estates.  Doubtless  the  leaves  have 
woolly  mats  underneath  for  the  reason  given  in  reference  to  the 
Steeple-bush  on  page  96. 


Wild    Rosemary;    March    Holy   Rose;    Water 
Andromeda;  Moorwort 

(Andromeda  Polifolia)  Heath  family 

Flowers — White  or  pink-tinted,  small,  round,  tubular,  5-toothedat 
the  tip ;  drooping  from  curved  footstalks  in  few-flowered  ter- 
minal umbels.  Calyx  deeply  5-parted;  10  bearded  stamens; 
style  like  a  column.  Stem :  A  sparingly  branched,  dwarf 
shrub,  6  in.  to  j  ft.  tall.  Leaves :  Linear  to  lance-shape,  ever- 
green, dark  and  glossy  above,  with  a  prominent  white  bloom 
underneath,  the  margins  curled. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Cool  bogs,  wet  places. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution — Pennsylvania  and  Michigan,  far  northward. 

Only  a  delightfully  imaginative  optimist  like  Linnaeus  could  feel 
the  enthusiasm  he  expended  on  this  dwarf  shrub,  with  its  little, 
white,  heathlike  flowers,  which  most  of  us  consider  rather  insig- 
nificant, if  the  truth  be  told.  But  then  the  blossoms  he  found  in 
Lapland  must  have  been  much  pinker  than  any  seen  in  American 
swamps,  since  they  reminded  him  of  "  a  fine  female  complexion." 

"  This  plant  is  always  fixed  on  some  little  turfy  hillock  in  the 
midst  of  the  swamps,"  he  wrote,  "just  as  Andromeda  herself 
was  chained  to  a  rock  in  the  sea,  which  bathed  her  feet  as  the  fresh 
water  does  the  roots  of  this  plant.  ...  As  the  distressed 
virgin  cast  down  her  blushing  face  through  excessive  affliction,  so 
does  this  rosy-colored  flower  hang  its  head,  growing  paler  and 
paler  till  it  withers  away."  Under  the  old  go-as-you-please  method 
of  applying  scientific  names,  most  of  this  shrub's  relatives  shared 
with  it  the  name  of  the  fair  maid  whom  Perseus  rescued  from  the 
dragons. 

235 


White  and  Greenish 

The  beautiful,  low-growing  Stagger-bush  (Pieris  Mariana] 
has  its  small,  cylindric,  five-parted,  white  or  pink-tinted  flowers 
clustered  at  intervals  along  one  side  of  the  upright,  nearly  leafless, 
smooth,  dark-dotted  branches  of  the  preceding  year.  When  the 
glossy  oval  leaves,  black  dotted  beneath,  are  freshly  put  forth  in 
early  summer — for  the  shrub  is  not  strictly  an  evergreen,  howevei 
late  the  old  leaves  may  cling — it  is  said  that  stupid  sheep  and  calves, 
which  find  them  irresistibly  attractive,  stagger  about  from  their 
poisonous  effect  just  as  they  do  after  feeding  on  this  shrub's  rela- 
tive the  Lambkill  (p.  127).  In  sandy  soil  from  southern  New 
England  to  Florida,  rarely  far  inland,  one  finds  the  stagger-bush  in 
bloom  from  May  to  July.  On  the  dry  plains  of  Long  Island,  where 
it  is  common  indeed,  it  appears  a  not  unworthy  relative  of  the 
Fetter-bush  (Pieris  floribunda),  that  exquisite  little  evergreen  with 
quantities  of  small  white  urns  drooping  along  its  twigs,  which 
nurserymen  acquire  from  the  mountains  of  our  Southern  States  to 
adorn  garden  shrubbery  at  home  and  abroad.  Mr.  William  Rob- 
inson, in  his  delightful  book,  "The  English  Flower  Garden  "  (a 
book,  by  the  way,  that  Rudyard  Kipling  reads  as  the  Puritan  read 
his  Bible),  counts  this  fetter-bush  among  the  "indispensables." 


Much  taller  than  the  preceding  dwarfs  is  the  Common  Privet 
Andromeda  found  in  swamps  and  low  ground  from  New  England 
to  the  Gulf  and  in  the  southwest  (Xolisma  ligustrina).  Whoever  has 
seen  the  privet  almost  universally  grown  in  hedges  is  familiar  with 
the  general  aspect  of  this  much-branched  shrub.  Most  farmers' 
boys  know  the  Andromeda's  mock  May-apple,  a  hollow,  stringy 
growth  of  insect  origin,  which  they  are  not  likely  to  confuse  with  the 
pulpy,  juicy  apple  found  on  the  closely  related  azaleas  (p.  122). 
Abundant  terminal  spike-like  or  branched  clusters  of  white,  globu- 
lar, four  or  five  parted  flowers  in  close  array,  attract  quantities  of 
bees  from  the  end  of  May  to  earlyjuly,  notwithstanding  each  indi- 
vidual flower  measures  barely  an  eighth  of  an  inch  across.  We 
have  seen  the  fine  hair-triggers  which  other  members  of  this  same 
family,  the  beautiful  pink  laurels  (p.  125),  have  set  to  be  sprung  by 
an  incoming  visitor.  Now  this  Andromeda,  and  similarly  several  of 
its  immediate  kin,  have  a  quite  different,  but  equally  effective, 
method  of  throwing  pollen  on  its  friends  who  come  to  call. 
When  one  of  the  little  banded  bees  clings,  as  he  must,  to  the  tiny 
flower  scarce  half  his  size,  thrusting  his  tongue  obliquely  through 
the  globe's  narrow  opening  to  reach  the  nectar,  suddenly  a  shower 
of  pollen  is  inhospitably  thrown  upon  him  from  within.  In  prob- 
ing between  the  ring  of  anthers  (that  are  pressed  against  the  style 
by  the  S-shaped  curvature  of  the  filaments  so  as  to  retain  the 
pollen),  he  needs  must  displace  some  of  them  and  release  the  vital- 
izing dust  through  the  large  terminal  pores  in  the  anther-sacs. 
Is  he  discouraged  by  such  rough  treatment  ?  Not  at  all.  Off  he 

236 


White  and  Greenish 

flies  to  another  Andromeda  blossom,  and  leaves  some  of  the  dust 
with  which  he  is  powdered  on  the  sticky  stigma  that  impedes 
his  entrance,  before  precipitating  a  fresh  shower  as  he  sips  another 
reward.  The  straight  column-like  pistil,  stigmatic  on  its  tip  only, 
allows  the  flower's  own  pollen  to  slide  harmlessly  down  its  sides. 
How  exquisite  are  the  most  minute  adjustments  of  floral  mechan- 
ism !  Is  it  possible  for  one  to  remain  an  agnostic  after  the  evi- 
dences even  the  flowers  show  us  of  infinite  wisdom  and  love? 

Another  denizen  of  swamps  and  low  ground,  next  of  kin  to 
the  trailing  arbutus,  is  the  Leather-leaf,  or  Dwarf  Cassandra 
(Chamaedaphne  calyculata),  a  modest  little  shrub,  its  stiff,  slender 
branches  plentifully  set  with  thick  oblong  leaves  that  grow  grad- 
ually smaller  the  higher  they  go,  and  when  young  are  densely 
covered  with  minute  scurfy  scales.  Sometimes  before  the  snow 
has  melted  in  April,  the  leafy  terminal  shoots  are  hung  with  mul- 
titudes of  little  waxy-white,  cylindric,  typical  heath  flowers  only 
about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  long,  each  nodding  from  a  leaf  axil, 
and  the  whole  forming  one-sided  racemes.  But  as  the  shrub 
ranges  from  Newfoundland  to  Georgia,  and  westward  to  Illinois, 
British  Columbia,  and  Alaska,  some  people  find  it  blooming  even 
in  July. 

Mythological  names  were  evidently  in  high  favor  among  the 
botanists  who  labelled  the  genuses  comprising  the  heath  fam- 
ily: Phyllodoce,  the  sea-nymph;  Cassiope,  mother  of  Andromeda; 
Leucothoe;  Andromeda  herself;  Pieris,  a  name  sometimes  applied 
to  the  Muses  from  their  supposed  abode  at  Pieria,  Thessaly ;  and 
Cassandra,  daughter  of  Priam,  the  prophetess  who  was  shut  up 
in  a  mad-house  because  she  prophesied  the  ruin  of  Troy — these 
names  are  as  familiar  to  the  student  of  this  group  of  shrubs  to-day 
as  they  were  to  the  devout  Greeks  in  the  brave  days  of  old. 

Creeping  Wintergreen  ;  Checkerberry  ;  Par* 
tridge-berry ;  Mountain  Tea;  Ground  Tea, 
Deer,  Box,  or  Spice  Berry 

(Gaultheria  procumbens)  Heath  family 

Flowers — White,  small,  usually  solitary,  nodding  from  a  leaf  axil. 
Corolla  rounded  bell-shape,  5-toothed;  calyx  5-parted,  per- 
sistent; 10  included  stamens,  their  anther-sacs  opening  by 
a  pore  at  the  top.  Stem  :  Creeping  above  or  below  ground, 
its  branches  2  to  6  in.  high.  Leaves:  Mostly  clustered  at 
top  of  branches;  alternate,  glossy,  leathery,  evergreen,  much 
darker  above  than  underneath,  oval  to  oblong,  very  finely 
saw-edged;  the  entire  plant  aromatic.  Fruit:  Bright  red, 
mealy,  spicy,  berry-like ;  ripe  in  October. 

337 


White  and  Greenish 

Preferred  Habitat— -Cool  woods,  especially  under  evergreens. 
Flowering  Season — June — September. 

Distribution — Newfoundland  to  Georgia,  westv/ard  to  Michigan 
and  Manitoba. 

However  truly  the  poets  may  make  us  feel  the  spirit  of  Na- 
ture in  their  verse,  can  many  be  trusted  when  it  comes  to  the 
letter  of  natural  science  ? 

"  Where  cornels  arch  their  cool,  dark  boughs  o'er  beds  of  wintergreen," 

wrote  Bryant ;  yet  it  is  safe  to  say  that  nine  colonies  of  this  hardy 
little  plant  out  of  every  ten  he  saw  were  under  evergreen  trees, 
not  dogwoods.  When  the  July  sun  melts  the  fragrance  out  of 
the  pines  high  overhead,  and  the  dim,  cool  forest  aisles  are  more 
fragrant  with  commingled  incense  from  a  hundred  natural  censers 
than  any  stone  cathedral's,  the  wintergreen's  little  waxy  bells 
hang  among  the  glossy  leaves  that  form  their  aromatic  carpet. 
On  such  a  day,  in  such  a  resting  place,  how  one  thrills  with  the 
consciousness  that  it  is  good  to  be  alive! 

Omnivorous  children  who  are  addicted  to  birch-chewing,  pre- 
fer these  tender  yellow-green  leaves  tinged  with  red,  when  newly 
put  forth  in  June — "Youngsters  "  rural  New  Englanders  call  them 
then.  In  some  sections  a  kind  of  tea  is  steeped  from  the  leaves, 
which  also  furnish  the  old-fashioned  embrocation,  wintergreen 
oil.  Late  in  the  year  the  glossy  bronze  carpet  of  old  leaves  dotted 
over  with  vivid  red  "berries"  invites  much  trampling  by  hungry 
birds  and  beasts,  especially  deer  and  bears,  not  to  mention  well- 
fed  humans.  Coveys  of  Bob  Whites  and  packs  of  grouse  will 
plunge  beneath  the  snow  for  fare  so  delicious  as  this  spicy, 
mealy  fruit  that  hangs  on  the  plant  till  spring,  of  course  for  the 
benefit  of  just  such  colonizing  agents  as  they.  Quite  a  different 
species,  belonging  to  another  family,  bears  the  true  partridge-berry, 
albeit  the  wintergreen  shares  with  it  a  number  of  popular  names. 
In  a  strict  sense  neither  of  these  plants  produces  a  berry;  for  the 
fruit  of  the  true  partridge  vine  (Mitchella  repens)  is  a  double  drupe, 
or  stone  bearer,  each  half  containing  four  hard,  seed-like  nutlets; 
while  the  wintergreen's  so-called  berry  is  merely  the  calvx  grown 
thick,  fleshy,  and  gayly  colored — only  a  coating  for  the  five-celled 
ovary  that  contains  the  minute  seeds.  Little  baskets  of  winter- 
green  berries  bring  none  too  high  prices  in  the  fancy  fruit  and 
grocery  shops  when  we  calculate  how  many  charming,  plants 
such  unnatural  use  of  them  sacrifices. 

Closely  allied  to  the  wintergreen  is  the  Red  Bearberry,  Kin- 
nikinic,  Bear's  Grape,  Fox-berry  or  Meal-berry,  as  it  is  variously 
called  (Arctostaphylos — Uva-Ursi  —  bearberry).  Trailing  its 
spreading  branches  over  sandy  ground,  rocky  hillsides  and  steeps 

238 


White  and  Greenish 

Until  it  sometimes  forms  luxuriant  mats,  it  closely  resembles  its 
cousin  the  arbutus  in  its  manner  of  growth,  and  has  been  mis- 
taken for  it  by  at  least  one  poet.  But  its  tiny,  rounded,  urn- 
shaped  flowers,  which  come  in  May  and  June,  are  white,  not 
salver  form  and  pink;  the  entire  plant  is  not  rusty-hairy;  the 
dark  little  leathery  evergreen  leaves  are  spatulate,  and,  moreover, 
it  bears  small  but  abundant  clusters  of  round,  berry-like  fruit,  an 
attainment  the  arbutus  still  struggles  for,  but  cannot  yet  reach. 
Bumblebees  are  the  flower's  chief  benefactors.  Game  fowl, 
especially  grouse,  but  many  other  birds  too,  and  various  animals 
which  are  glad  to  add  the  clusters  of  smooth  red  bearberries  to 
their  scanty  winter  menu,  however  insipid  and  dry  they  may  be, 
have  distributed  the  seed  from  Labrador  across  Arctic  America 
to  Alaska,  southward  to  Pennsylvania,  Illinois,  Nebraska,  and 
California.  How  plants  do  compel  insects,  birds,  and  beasts  to 
work  for  them !  The  entire  plant  is  astringent,  and  has  been 
used  in  medicine;  also  by  leather  dressers. 


Black   or    High-bush    Huckleberry;    Whortle- 
berry 

(Gaylussacia  resinosa)  Huckleberry  family 

Flowers — White  and  pink,  pale  or  deep,  small,  cylindric,  bell-shaped, 
5-parted,  borne  in  i -sided  racemes  from  the  sides  of  the  stiff, 
grayish  branches.  Stem:  A  shrub  i  to  3  ft.  high.  Leaves: 
Alternate,  oval  to  oblong,  firm,  entire  edged,  green  on  both 
sides,  dotted  underneath  with  resinous  spots,  especially  when 
young.  Fruit:  A  round,  black,  bloomless,  sweet,  berry-like 
drupe,  containing  10  seed-like  nutlets,  in  each  of  which  is 
a  solitary  seed.  Ripe,  July — August. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Moist,  sandy  soil,  thickets,  open  woods. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution — Newfoundland  to  Georgia,  west  to  Manitoba  and 
Kentucky. 

This  common  huckleberry,  oftener  found  in  pies  and  muffins 
by  the  average  observer  than  in  its  native  thickets,  unfortunately 
ripens  in  fly-time,  when  the  squeamish  boarder  in  the  summer 
hotel  does  well  to  carefully  strutinize  each  mouthful.  For  the 
abundant  fruit  set  on  huckleberry  bushes,  as  on  so  many  others, 
we  are  indebted  chiefly  to  the  lesser  bees,  which,  receiving  the 
pollen  jarred  out  from  the  terminal  chinks  in  the  anther-sacs  on 
their  under  sides  as  they  cling,  transfer  it  to  the  protruding  stigmas 
of  the  next  blossom  visited.  After  fertilization,  when  the  now 
useless  corolla  falls,  the  ten-celled  ovary  is  protected  by  the  en- 
circling calyx,  that  grows  rapidly,  swells,  fills  with  juice,  and  takes 

239 


White  and  Greenish 

on  color  until  it  and  the  ovary  together  become  a  so-called  berry, 
whose  seeds  are  dropped  far  and  wide  by  birds  and  beasts.  "  The 
name  huckleberry,  which  is  applied  indiscriminately  to  several 
species  of  Vaccinium  and  Gaylussacia,"  says  Professor  L.  H.  Bailey, 
"is  evidently  a  corruption  of  whortleberry.  Whortleberry  is  in 
turn  a  corruption  of  myrtleberry.  In  the  Middle  Ages,  the  true 
myrtleberry  was  largely  used  in  cookery  and  medicine,  but  the 
European  bilberry  or  V actinium  so  closely  resembled  it  that  the 
name  was  transferred  to  the  latter  plant,  a  circumstance  commemo- 
rated by  Linnaeus  in  the  giving  of  the  name  Vaccinium  Myrtillus 
to  the  bilberry.  From  the  European  whortleberry  the  name  was 
transferred  to  the  similar  American  plants." 

A  common  little  bushy  shrub,  not  a  true  blueberry,  found  in 
moist  woods,  especially  beside  streams,  from  New  England  to  the 
Gulf  States,  and  westward  to  Ohio,  is  the  Blue  Tangle,  Tangleberry, 
or  Dangleberry  (G.  frondosa).  It  bears  a  few  tiny  greenish-pink 
flowers  dangling  from  pedicels  in  loose  racemes,  and  correspond- 
ing clusters  of  most  delicious,  sweet,  dark-blue  berries,  covered 
with  hoary  bloom  in  midsummer.  The  abundant  resinous  leaves 
on  its  slender  gray  branches  are  pale  and  hoary  beneath.  The 
caterpillars  of  several  species  of  sulphur  butterflies  (Colias)  feed 
on  huckleberry  leaves. 

To  a  genus  quite  distinct  from  the  huckleberries  belong  the 
true  blueberries,  however  interchangeably  these  names  are  mis- 
used. Perhaps  the  first  species  to  send  its  fruit  to  market  in  June 
and  July  is  the  Dwarf,  Sugar,  or  Low-bush  Blueberry  (V actinium 
Pennsylvanicum),  sometimes  six  inches  tall,  never  more  than 
twenty  inches.  It  prefers  sandy  or  rocky  soil  from  southern  New 
Jersey  far  northward,  and  west  to  Illinois.  Shortly  after  the  small, 
bell-shaped,  white  or  pink  flowers,  that  grow  in  racemes  on  the 
ends  or  sides  of  the  angular,  green,  warty  branches  of  nearly  all 
blueberry  bushes,  have  been  fertilized  by  bees,  this  species  forms 
an  especially  sweet  berry  with  a  bloom  on  its  blue  surface.  The 
alternate  oblong  leaves,  smooth  and  green  on  both  sides,  are  very 
finely  and  sharply  saw-edged. 

Another,  and  perhaps  the  commonest,  as  it  is  the  finest,  spe- 
cies, whose  immature  fruit  is  still  green  or  red  when  the  dwarf's  is 
ripe,  is  the  High-bush,  Tall,  or  Swamp  Blueberry  (V.  corymbosuni), 
found  in  low  wet  ground  from  Virginia  westward  to  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  very  far  north.  Only  the  bees  and  their  kind  concern 
themselves  with  the  little  cylindric,  five-parted,  nectar-bearing 
flowers.  These  appear  with  the  oblong,  entire  leaves,  paler  below 
thart  above.  But  thousands  of  fruit  sellers  and  housekeepers 
depend  on  the  sweet  blueberries  (with  a  pleasant  acid  flavor)  as 
a  market  staple.  In  July  and  August,  even  in  early  September, 
the  berries  arrive  in  the  cities.  One  picker  in  New  Jersey  claims 
to  have  filled  an  entire  crate  with  the  fruit  of  a  single  bush. 

240 


White  and  Greenish 

The  Deerberry,  Buckberry,  or  Squaw  Huckleberry  (K  sta- 
mineum),  common  in  dry  woods  and  thickets  from  Maine  and 
Minnesota  to  the  Gulf  States,  puts  forth  quantities  of  small  greenish- 
white,  yellow,  or  purplish-green,  open  bell-shaped,  five-cleft  flow- 
ers, nodding  from  hair-like  pedicels  in  graceful,  leafy-bracted  ra- 
cemes. Both  the  tips  of  the  stamens  and  the  style  protrude  like  a 
fringe.  No  creature,  unless  hard  pressed  by  hunger,  could  relish  the 
greenish  or  yellowish  berries.  This  is  a  low-growing,  spreading 
shrub,  with  firm  oval  or  oblong  tapering  leaves,  dull  above,  and 
pale,  sometimes  even  hoary,  underneath. 


Creeping-  Snowberry 

(Chiogenes  hispidula)  Huckleberry  family 

Flowers — Very  small,  white,  few,  solitary,  nodding  on  short,  curved 
peduncles  from  the  leaf  axils.  Calyx  2-bracted,  4-cleft  ; 
corolla  a  short  4-cleft  bell  ;  8  short  stamens,  each  anther  sac 
opening  by  a  slit  to  the  middle  ;  i  pistil,  the  ovary  4-celled. 
Stem:  Creeping  along  the  ground,  the  slender,  leafy,  hairy 
branches  3  to  12  in.  long.  Leaves:  Evergreen,  alternate,  2- 
ranked,  oval,  very  small,  dark  and  glossy  above,  coated  with 
stiff,  rusty  hairs  underneath,  the  edges  curled.  Fruit:  A 
snow-white,  round  or  oval,  mealy,  aromatic  berry;  ripe  Au- 
gust—September. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Cool  bogs ;  low,  moist,  mossy  woods. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution — North  Carolina  and  Michigan  northward  to  the  Brit- 
ish Possessions. 

Allied  on  the  one  hand  to  the  cranberry,  so  often  found  with 
it  in  the  cool  northern  peat  bogs,  and  on  the  other  to  the  delicious 
blueberries,  this  "snow-born"  berry,  which  appears  on  no  dining- 
table,  nevertheless  furnishes  many  a  good  meal  to  hungry  birds 
and  fagged  pedestrians.  Both  the  pretty  foliage  and  the  fruit  have 
the  refreshing  flavor  of  sweet  birch. 


Pyxie;  Flowering  Moss;  Pine-barren  Beauty 

(Pyxidanthera  barbulata]  Diapensia  family 

Flowers — Abundant,  white,  or  sometimes  pink,  about  %  in.  across, 
5-parted,  solitary,  seated  at  tips  of  branches.     Stem :  Pros- 
trate, creeping,  much  branched,  the  main  branches  often  I 
ft.  long,  very  leafy,  growing  in  mat-like  patches.     Leaves: 
16  241 


White  and  Greenish 

Moss-like,  very  narrow,  pointed,  seated  on  stem,  and  over- 
lapping like  scales,  on  upper  part  of  branches. 

Preferred  Habitat— -Dry  sandy  soil  ;  pine  barrens. 

Flowering  Season — March — May. 

Distribution — New  Jersey,  south  to  North  Carolina. 

Curiously  enough,  this  creeping,  tufted,  mat-like  little  plant  is 
botanically  known  as  a  shrub,  yet  it  is  lower  than  many  mosses, 
and  would  seem  to  the  untrained  eye  to  be  certainly  of  their  kin. 
In  earliest  spring,  when  Lenten  penitents,  jaded  with  the  winter's 
frivolities  in  the  large  cities,  seek  the  salubrious  pine  lands  of 
southern  New  Jersey  and  beyond,  they  are  amazed  and  delighted 
to  find  the  abundant  little  evergreen  mounds  of  pyxie  already 
starred  with  blossoms.  The  dense  mossy  cushions,  plentifully 
sprinkled  with  pink  buds  and  white  flowers,  are  so  beautiful,  one 
cannot  resist  taking  a  few  tuffets  home  to  naturalize  in  the  rock 
garden.  Planted  in  a  mixture  of  clear  sand  and  leaf-mould,  with 
exposure  to  the  morning  sun,  pyxie  will  smile  up  at  us  from  un- 
der our  very  windows,  spring  after  spring,  with  increased  charms; 
whereas  the  arbutus,  that  untamable  wildling,  carried  home  from 
the  pine-woods  at  the  same  time,  soon  sulks  itself  to  death. 


Star-flower;    Chickweed-Wintergreen ;     Star 
Anemone 

(Trientalis  Americana)  Primrose  family 

Flowers — White,  solitary,  or  a  few  rising  on  slender,  wiry  foot- 
stalks above  a  whorl  of  leaves.  Calyx  of  5  to  9  (usually  7) 
narrow  sepals.  Corolla  wheel-shaped,  J6  in.  across  or  less, 
deeply  cut  into  (usually)  7  tapering,  spreading,  petal-like  seg- 
ments. Stem:  A  long  horizontal  rootstock,  sending  up 
smooth  stem-like  branches  3  to  9  in.  high,  usually  with  a  scale 
or  two  below.  (Trientalis  =  one-third  of  a  foot,  the  usual 
height  of  a  plant.)  Leaves :  5  to  10,  in  a  whorl  at  summit; 
thin,  tapering  at  both  ends,  of  unequal  size,  \y2  to  4  in.  long. 

Preferred  Habitat — Moist  shade  of  woods  and  thickets. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution — From  Virginia  and  Illinois  far  north. 

Is  any  other  blossom  poised  quite  so  airily  above  its  whorl  of 
leaves  as  the  delicate,  frosty-white  little  star-flower  ?  It  is  none 
of  the  anemone  kin,  of  course,  in  spite  of  one  of  its  misleading  folk- 
names  ;  but  only  the  wind-flower  has  a  similar  lightness  and  grace. 
No  nectar  rewards  the  small  bee  and  fly  visitors;  they  get  pollen 
only.  Those  coming  from  older  blossoms  to  a  newly  opened  one 

242 


White  and  Greenish 

leave  some  of  the  vitalizing  dust  clinging  to  them  on  the  moist 
and  sticky  stigma,  which  will  wither  to  prevent  self-fertilization 
before  the  flower's  own  curved  anthers  mature  and  shed  their 
grains.  Sometimes,  when  the  blossoms  do  not  run  on  schedule 
time,  or  the  insects  are  not  flying  in  stormy  weather,  this  well- 
laid  plan  may  gang  a-gley.  An  occasional  lapse  matters  little; 
it  is  perpetual  self-fertilization  that  Nature  abhors. 


Indian  Hemp;  Amy-root 

(Apocynum  cannabium)  Dogbane  family 

Flowers — Greenish  white,  about  ^  in.  across,  on  short  pedicels,  in 
dense  clusters  at  ends  of  branches  and  from  the  axils.  Calyx 
of  5  segments  ;  corolla  nearly  erect,  bell-shaped,  5-lobed,  with 
5  small  triangular  appendages  alternating  with  the  stamens 
within  its  tube.  Stem ;  i  to  4  ft.  high,  branching,  smooth, 
often  dull  reddish,  from  a  deep,  vertical  root.  Leaves :  Oppo- 
site, entire,  2  to  6  in.  long,  mostly  oblong,  abruptly  pointed, 
variable.  Fruit :  A  pair  of  slender  pods,  the  numerous  seeds 
tipped  with  tufts  of  hairs. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Gravelly  soil,  banks  of  streams,  low  fields. 

Flowering  Season — June — August. 

Distribution — Almost  throughout  the  United  States  and  British 
Possessions. 

Instead  of  setting  a  trap  to  catch  flies  and  hold  them  by  the 
tongue  in  a  vise-like  grip  until  death  alone  releases  them,  as  its 
heartless  sister  the  spreading  dogbane  does  (see  p.  134),  this  awk- 
ward, rank  herb  lifts  clusters  of  smaller,  less  conspicuous,  but  in- 
nocent, flowers,  with  nectar  secreted  in  rather  shallow  receptacles, 
that  even  short-tongued  insects  may  feast  without  harm.  Honey 
and  mining  bees,  among  others;  wasps  and  flies  in  variety,  and 
great  numbers  of  the  spangled  fritillary  (Argynnis  cybele)  and  the 
banded  hair-streak  (Thecla  calanus)  among  the  butterfly  tribe; 
destructive  bugs  and  beetles  attracted  by  the  white  color,  a  faint 
odor,  and  liberal  entertainment,  may  be  seen  about  the  clusters. 
Many  visitors  are  useless  pilferers,  no  doubt ;  but  certainly  the 
bees  which  depart  with  pollen  masses  cemented  to  their  lips  or 
tongues,  to  leave  them  in  the  stigmatic  cavities  of  the  next  blos- 
soms their  heads  enter,  pay  a  fair  price  for  all  they  get. 

From  the  fact  that  Indians  used  to  substitute  this  very  common 
plant's  tough  fibre  for  hemp  in  making  their  fishnets,  mats,  baskets, 
and  clothing,  came  its  popular  name  ;  and  from  their  use  of  the 
juices  to  poison  mangy  ola  dogs  about  their  camps,  its  scientific 
one. 

843 


White  and  Greenish 

Whorled    or    Green-flowered    Milkweed 

(Asclepias  verticillata)  Milkweed  family 

Flowers — White  or  greenish,  on  short  pedicels,  in  several  small  ter- 
minal clusters.  Calyx  inferior  ;  corolla  deeply  5-parted,  the 
oblong  segments  turned  back  ;  a  5-parted,  erect  crown  of 
hooded  nectaries  between  them  and  the  stamens,  each  shorter 
than  the  incurved  horn  within.  Stem  :  \  to  2^  ft.  tall,  simple 
or  sparingly  branched,  hairy,  leafy  to  summit,  containing  milky 
juice.  Leaves :  In  upright  groups,  very  narrow,  almost  thread- 
like, from  3  to  7  in  each  whorl.  Fruit:  2  smooth,  narrow, 
spindle-shaped,  upright  pods,  the  seeds  attached  to  silky 
fluff ;  i  pod  usually  abortive. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Dry  fields,  hills,  uplands. 

Flowering  Season — July — September. 

Distribution — Maine  and  far  westward,  south  to  Florida  and  Mexico. 

In  describing  the  common  milkweed  (pp.  135-138),  so  many 
statements  were  made  that  apply  quite  as  truly  to  this  far  daintier 
and  more  ethereal  species,  the  reader  is  referred  back  to  the  pink 
and  magenta  section.  Compared  with  some  of  its  rank-growing, 
heavy  relatives,  how  exquisite  is  this  little  denizen  of  the  uplands, 
with  its  whorls  of  needle-like  leaves  set  at  intervals  along  a  slender 
swaying  stem  !  The  entire  plant,  with  its  delicate  foliage  and 
greenish-white  umbels  of  flowers,  rather  suggests  a  member  of 
the  carrot  tribe  ;  and  much  the  same  class  of  small-sized,  short- 
tongued  visitors  come  to  seek  its  accessible  nectar  as  we  find  about 
the  parsnips,  for  example.  When  little  bees  alight — and  these 
are  the  truest  benefactors,  however  frequently  larger  bees,  wasps, 
flies,  and  even  the  almost  useless  butterflies  come  around — their 
feet  slip  about  within  the  low  crown  to  find  a  secure  lodging.  As 
they  rise  to  fly  away  after  sucking,  the  pollen  masses  which  have 
attached  themselves  to  the  hairs  on  the  lower  part  of  their  legs 
are  drawn  out,  to  be  transferred  to  other  blossoms,  perhaps  to-day, 
perhaps  not  for  a  fortnight.  Annoying  as  they  may  be,  it  is 
very  rarely,  indeed,  that  an  insect  can  rid  itself  of  the  pollen  masses 
carried  from  either  orchids  or  milkweeds,  except  by  the  method 
Nature  intended  ;  and  it  is  not  until  the  long-suffering  bee  is  out- 
rageously loaded  that  he  attains  his  greatest  usefulness  to  milk- 
weed blossoms.  "  Of  ninety-two  specimens  bearing  corpuscula 
of  .Asclepias  verticillata, "  says  Professor  Robertson,  "eighty-eight 
have  them  on  hairs  alone,  and  four  on  the  hairs  and  claws."  And 
again  :  "As  far  as  the  mere  application  of  pollen  to  an  insect  is 
concerned,  a  flower  with  loose  pollen  has  the  advantage.  But  the 
advantage  is  on  the  side  of  Asclepias  after  the  insect  is  loaded  with 
it.  It  is  only  a  general  rule  that  insects  keep  to  flowers  of  a  particular 

244 


White  and  Greenish 

species  on  their  honey  and  pollen  gathering  expeditions.  If  a 
bee  dusted  with  loose  pollen  visits  flowers  of  another  species,  it 
will  not  long  retain  pollen  in  sufficient  quantity  to  effectually 
fertilize  flowers  of  the  original  species.  On  the  other  hand,  if  an 
insect  returns  at  any  time  during  the  day,  or  even  after  a  few  days, 
to  the  species  of  Asclepias  from  which  it  got  a  load  of  pollinia,  it 
may  bring  with  it  all  or  most  of  the  pollinia  which  it  has  carried 
from  the  first  plants  visited.  %  The  firmness  with  which  the  pol- 
linia keep  their  hold  on  the  insect  is  one  of  the  best  adaptations 
for  cross-fertilization." 

Ants,  the  worst  pilferers  of  nectar  extant,  find  the  hairy  stem 
of  the  whorled  milkweed,  as  well  as  its  sticky  juice,  most  dis- 
couraging, if  not  fatal,  obstacles  to  climbing.  How  daintily  the 
goldfinch  picks  at  the  milkweed  pods  and  sets  adrift  the  seeds 
attached  to  silky  aeronautic  fluff! 


Wild     Potato      Vine;      Man-of-the-Earth; 
Mecha-Meck 

(Ipomoea  pandurata)  Morning-glory  family 

Flowers — Funnel  form,  wide-spread,  2  to  ^  in.  long,  pure  white 
or  pinkish  purple  inside  the  throat;  the  peduncles  I  to  5 
flowered.  Stem:  Trailing  over  the  ground  or  weakly  twin- 
ing, 2to  12  ft.  long.  Leaves:  Heart,  fiddle,  or  halbert  shaped 
(rarely  ^-lobed),  on  slender  petioles.  Root:  Enormous, 
fleshy. 

Preferred  Habitat— Dry  soil,  sandy  or  gravelly  fields  or  hills. 

Flowering  Season — May — September. 

Distribution— Ontario,  Michigan,  and  Texas,  east  to  the  Atlantic 
Ocean. 

No  one  need  be  told  that  this  flaring,  trumpet-shaped  flower 
is  next  of  kin  to  the  morning-glory  that  clambers  over  the  trellises 
of  countless  kitchen  porches,  and  escapes  back  to  Nature's  garden 
whenever  it  can.  When  the  ancestors  of  these  blossoms  welded 
their  five  petals  into  a  solid  deep  bell,  which  still  shows  on  its 
edges  the  trace  of  five  once  separate  parts,  they  did  much  to  pro- 
tect their  precious  contents  from  rain  ;  but  some  additional  pro- 
tection was  surely  needed  against  the  little  interlopers  not  adapted 
to  fertilize  the  flower,  which  could  so  easily  crawl  down  its  tube. 
Doubtless  the  hairs  on  the  base  of  the  filaments,  between  which 
certain  bumblebees  and  other  long-tongued  benefactors  can  easily 
penetrate  to  suck  the  nectar  secreted  in  a  fleshy  disk  below,  act  as 
a  stockade  to  little  would-be  pilferers.  The  color  in  the  throat 
serves  as  a  pathfinder  to  the  deep-hidden  sweets.  How  pleasant 
the  way  is  made  for  such  insects  as  a  flower  must  needs  encour- 

245 


White  and  Greenish 

age  I  For  these  the  perennial  wild  potato  vine  keeps  open  house 
far  later  in  the  day  than  its  annual  relatives.  Professor  Robertson 
says  it  is  dependent  mainly  upon  two  bees,  Entechnia  taurea  and 
Xenoglossa.  ipomoeae,  the  latter  its  namesake. 

One  has  to  dig  deep  to  find  the  huge,  fleshy,  potato-like  root 
from  which  the  vine  derived  its  name  of  man-of-the-earth.  Such 
a  storehouse  of  juices  is  surely  necessary  in  the  dry  soil  where 
the  wild  potato  lives. 


Happily,  the  common  Morning-glory  (/.  purpurea) — the  Con- 
volvulus major  of  seedsmen's  catalogues — has  so  commonly  es- 
caped from  cultivation  in  the  eastern  half  of  the  United  States 
and  Canada  as  now  to  deserve  counting  among  our  wild  flowers, 
albeit  South  America  is  its  true  home.  Surely  no  description  of 
this  commonest  of  all  garden  climbers  is  needed;  every  one  has 
an  opportunity  to  watch  how  the  bees  cross-fertilize  it. 

The  vine  has  a  special  interest  because  of  Darwin's  illuminat- 
ing experiments  upon  it  when  he  planted  six  self-fertilized  seeds 
and  six  seeds  fertilized  with  the  pollen  brought  from  flowers  on  a 
different  vine,  on  opposite  sides  of  the  same  pot.  Vines  produced 
by  the  former  reached  an  average  height  of  five  feet  four  inches, 
whereas  the  cross-pollenized  seed  sent  its  stems  up  two  feet 
higher,  and  produced  very  many  more  flowers.  If  so  marked  a 
benefit  from  imported  pollen  may  be  observed  in  a  single  genera- 
tion, is  it  any  wonder  that  ambitious  plants  employ  every  sort  of 
ingenious  device  to  compel  insects  to  bring  them  pollen  from  dis- 
tant flowers  of  the  same  species  ?  How  punctually  the  Moon- 
flower  (/.  grandiflora),  next  of  kin  to  the  morning-glory,  opens  its 
immense,  pure  white,  sweet-scented  flowers  at  night  to  attract 
night-flying  moths,  because  their  long  tongues,  which  only  can 
drain  the  nectar,  may  not  be  withdrawn  until  they  are  dusted 
with  vitalizing  powder  for  export  to  some  waiting  sister. 


Gronovius*   or    Common    Dodder;     Strangle- 
weed;    Love   Vine;    Angel's    Hair 

(Cuscuta  Gronovii)  Dodder  family 

Flowers — Dull  white,  minute,  numerous,  in  dense  clusters.  Calyx 
inferior,  greenish  white,  5-parted;  corolla  bell-shaped,  the  5 
lobes  spreading,  5  fringed  scales  within;  5  stamens,  each  in- 
serted on  corolla  throat  above  a  scale ;  2  slender  styles.  Stem  : 
Bright  orange  yellow,  thread-like,  twining  high,  leafless. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Moist  soil,  meadows,  ditches,  beside  streams. 

Flowering  Season—] uly — September. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  and  Manitoba,  south  to  the  Gulf  States. 

346 


White  and  Greenish 

Like  tangled  yellow  yarn  wound  spirally  about  the  herbage 
and  shrubbery  in  moist  thickets,  the  dodder  grows,  its  beautiful 
bright  threads  plentifully  studded  with  small  flowers  tightly 
bunched.  Try  to  loosen  its  hold  on  the  support  it  is  climbing  up, 
and  the  secret  of  its  guilt  is  out  at  once;  for  no  honest  vine  is 
this,  but  a  parasite,  a  degenerate  of  the  lowest  type,  with  numer- 
ous sharp  suckers  (haustoria)  penetrating  the  bark  of  its  victim, 
and  spreading  in  the  softer  tissues  beneath  to  steal  all  their  nour- 
ishment. So  firmly  are  these  suckers  attached,  that  the  golden 
thread-like  stem  will  break  before  they  can  be  torn  from  their 
hold. 

Not  a  leaf  now  remains  on  the  vine  to  tell  of  virtue  in  its 
remote  ancestors  ;  the  absence  of  green  matter  (chlorophyll)  tes- 
tifies to  dishonest  methods  of  gaining  a  living  (see  Indian  Pipe, 
p.  233) ;  not  even  a  root  is  left  after  the  seedling  is  old  enough  to 
twine  about  its  hard-working,  respectable  neighbors.  Starting 
out  in  life  with  apparently  the  best  intentions,  suddenly  the  tender 
young  twiner  develops  an  appetite  for  strong  drink  and  murder 
combined,  such  as  would  terrify  any  budding  criminal  in  Five 
Points  or  Seven  Dials  !  No  sooner  has  it  laid  hold  of  its  victim 
and  tapped  it,  than  the  now  useless  root  and  lower  portion  wither 
away,  leaving  the  dodder  in  mid-air,  without  any  connection  with 
the  soil  below,  but  abundantly  nourished  with  juices  already  stored 
up,  and  even  assimilated,  at  its  host's  expense.  By  rapidly  length- 
ening the  cells  on  the  outer  side  of  its  stem  more  than  on  the  inner 
side,  the  former  becomes  convex,  the  latter  concave  ;  that  is  to 
say,  a  section  of  spiral  is  formed  by  the  new  shoot,  which,  twining 
upward,  devitalizes  its  benefactor  as  it  goes.  Abundant,  globular 
seed-vessels,  which  develop  rapidly,  while  the  blossoming  con- 
tinues unabated,  soon  sink  into  the  soft  soil  to  begin  their  piratical 
careers  close  beside  the  criminals  which  bore  them  ;  or  better  still, 
from  their  point  of  view,  float  down  stream  to  found  new  colonies 
afar.  When  the  beautiful  jewel-weed — a  conspicuous  sufferer- 
is  hung  about  with  dodder,  one  must  be  grateful  for  at  least  such 
symphony  of  yellows. 


Virginia  Water-leaf 

(Hydrophyllum  Virginicum)  Water-leaf  family 

flowers — White  or  purplish  tinged,  in  a  single  or  forking  cluster 
on  a  long  peduncle.  Calyx  deeply  5-parted,  the  spreading 
segments  very  narrow,  bristly  hairy.  Corolla  erect,  bell- 
shaped,  deeply  5-lobed  ;  5  protruding  stamens,  with  soft 
hairs  about  their  middle  ;  2  styles  united  to  almost  the  sum- 
mit. Stem:  Slender,  rather  weak,  I  to  3  ft.  long,  leafy, 
sparingly  branched,  from  a  scaly  rootstock.  Leaves:  Alter- 
247 


White  and  Greenish 

nate,  lower  ones  on  long  petioles,  6  to  10  in.  long,  pinnately 
divided  into  5  to  7  oblong,  sharply  toothed,  acute  leaflets  or 
segments  ;  upper  leaves  similar,  but  smaller,  and  with  fewer 
divisions. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rich,  moist  woods. 

Flowering  Season — May — August. 

Distribution — Quebec  to  South  Carolina,  west  to  Kansas  and 
Washington. 

So  very  many  flowers  especially  adapted  to  the  bumblebee 
are  in  bloom  when  the  cymes  of  the  water-leaf  uncoil,  like  the 
borages,  from  their  immature  roll,  that  some  special  inducement 
to  attract  this  benefactor  were  surely  needed.  In  high  altitudes 
the  clusters  became  deeper  hued;  but  much  as  the  more  special- 
ized bees  love  color,  food  appeals  to  them  far  more.  Accordingly 
the  five  lobes  of  each  little  flower  stand  erect  to  increase  the  dif- 
ficulty a  short-tongued  insect  would  have  to  drain  its  precious 
stores  ;  the  stamens  are  provided  with  hairs  for  the  same  reason ; 
and  even  the  calyx  is  bristly,  to  discourage  crawling  ants,  the  worst 
pilferers  out.  By  these  precautions  against  theft,  plenty  of  nectar 
remains  for  the  large  bees.  To  prevent  self-fertilization,  pollen  is 
shed  on  visitors,  which  remove  it  from  a  newly  opened  flower  be- 
fore the  stigmas  become  receptive  to  any;  but  in  any  case  these 
are  elevated  in  maturity  above  the  anthers,  well  out  of  harm's 
way. 

Early  in  spring  the  large  lower  leaves  are  calculated  to  hold 
the  drip  from  the  trees  overhead,  hence  the  plant's  scientific  and 
popular  names. 


Jamestown   Weed;     Thorn     Apple;     Stramo- 
nium; Jimson  Weed;   Devil's  Trumpet 

(Datura  Stramonium}  Potato  family 

Flowers — Showy,  large,  about  4  in.  high,  solitary,  erect,  growing 
from  the  forks  of  branches.  Calyx  tubular,  nearly  half  as 
long  as  the  corolla,  5-toothed,  prismatic;  corolla  funnel- 
form,  deep-throated,  the  spreading  limb  2  in.  across  or  less, 
plaited,  5-pointed ;  stamens  5 ;  i  pistil.  Stem  :  Stout,  branch- 
ing, smooth,  i  to  5  ft.  high.  Leaves :  Alternate,  large,  rather 
thin,  petioled,  egg-shaped  in  outline,  the  edges  irregularly 
wavy-toothed  or  angled,  rank-scented.  Fruit :  A  densely 
prickly,  egg-shaped  capsule,  the  lower  prickles  smallest. 
The  seeds  and  stems  contain  a  powerful  narcotic  poison. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Light  soil,  fields,  waste  land  near  dwellings, 
rubbish  heaps. 

Flowering  Season— -June — September. 

248 


White  and  Greenish 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  westward  be- 
yond the  Mississippi. 


When  we  consider  that  there  are  over  five  million  Gypsit 
dering  about  the  globe,  and  that  the  narcotic  seeds  of  th 


)sieswan- 
the  thorn 

apple,  which  apparently  heal,  as  well  as  poison,  have  been  a  favorite 
medicine  of  theirs  for  ages,  we  can  understand  at  least  one  means 
of  the  weed  reaching  these  shores  from  tropical  Asia.  (Hindoo, 
dhatura).  Our  Indians,  who  call  it  "  white  man's  plant,"  asso- 
ciate it  with  the  Jamestown  settlement — a  plausible  connection, 
for  Raleigh's  colonists  would  have  been  likely  to  carry  with  them 
to  the  New  World  the  seeds  of  an  herb  yielding  an  alkaloid  more 
esteemed  in  the  England  of  their  day  than  the  alkaloid  of  opium 
known  as  morphine.  Daturina,  the  narcotic,  and  another  product, 
known  in  medicine  as  stramonium,  smoked  by  asthmatics,  are  by 
no  means  despised  by  up-to-date  practitioners.  Were  it  not  for  the 
rank  odor  of  its  leaves,  the  vigorous  weed,  coarse  as  it  is,  would 
be  welcome  in  men's  gardens.  Indeed,  many  of  its  similar  rela- 
tives adorn  them.  The  fragrant  petunia  and  tobacco  plants  of 
the  flower  beds,  the  potato,  tomato,  and  egg-plant  in  the  kitchen 
garden,  call  it  cousin. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  the  plaited  corolla  of  this  long  trumpet- 
shaped  flower  expands  to  welcome  the  sphinx  moths.  So  deep 
a  tube  implies  their  tongues;  not  that  these  are  the  benefactors  to 
which  the  blossom  originally  adapted  itself — they  were  doubt- 
less left  behind  in  Asia — but  apparently  our  moths  make  excel- 
lent substitutes,  for  there  is  no  abatement  of  the  weed's  vigor 
here,  as  there  surely  would  be  did  it  habitually  fertilize  itself.  Any 
time  after  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  according  to  the  light, 
the  sphinx  moth,  a  creature  of  the  gloaming,  begins  its  rounds,  to 
be  mistaken  for  a  humming-bird  seven  times  out  of  ten.  Hover- 
ing about  its  chosen  white  or  yellow  flowers,  that  open  for  it  at 
the  approach  of  twilight,  it  remains  poised  above  one  a  second, 
as  if  motionless— although  the  faint  hum  of  its  wings,  while  suck- 
ing, indicates  that  no  magic  suspends  it — then  darts  swift  as 
thought  to  another  deep  tube  to  feast  again,  of  course  transferring 
pollen  as  it  goes.  But  what  if  the  Jamestown  weed  miscalcu- 
late the  hour  of  her  lover's  call  and  open  too  soon  ?  Mischiev- 
ous bees,  quick  to  seize  so  golden  an  opportunity,  squeeze  into 
the  flower  when  it  begins  to  unfold  (flies  and  beetles  following 
them),  to  steal  pollen,  which  will  sometimes  be  entirely  removed 
before  the  moth's  arrival. 

The  Purple  Stramonium,  or  Thorn  Apple  (D.  Tatula),  a  simi- 
lar species,  usually  with  darker  leaves,  and  pale  lavender  or  violet 
flowers,  or  with  its  long,  slender  tube  white,  has  become  at 
home  in  so  many  fields  and  waste  lands  east  of  Minnesota  and 
Texas  that  no  one  thinks  of  it  as  belonging  to  tropical  America. 

249 


White  and  Greenish 

Only  sphinx  moths  can  reach  its  deep  well  of  nectar,  from  which 
bees  are  literally  barred  out  by  an  inward  turn  of  the  stamens 
toward  the  centre  of  the  tube.  Caterpillars  of  our  commonest 
member  of  the  sphinx  tribe  conceal  themselves  on  the  tomato  vine 
by  a  mimicry  of  its  color  so  faultless  that  a  bright  eye  only  may 
detect  their  presence.  In  the  South  the  caterpillar  of  another  of 
these  moths  (Sphinx  Carolina)  does  fearful  havoc  under  its  ap- 
propriate alias  of  "tobacco  worm." 


Culver's-root ;    Culver's  Physic 

(Leptandra  Virginicd)  Figwort  family 
(Veronica  Virginica  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Small,  white  or  rarely  bluish,  crowded  in  dense  spike- 
like  racemes  3  to  9  in.  long,  usually  several  spikes  at  top  of 
stem  or  from  upper  axils.  Calyx  4-parted,  very  small;  co- 
rolla tubular, 4-lobed ;  2  stamens  protruding;  i  pistil.  Stem: 
Straight,  erect,  usually  unbranched,  2  to  7  ft.  tall.  Leaves : 
Whorled,  from  3  to  9  in  a  cluster,  lance-shaped  or  oblong, 
and  long-tapering,  sharply  saw-edged. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Rich,  moist  woods,  thickets,  meadows. 

Flowering  Season — June — September. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Alabama,  west  to  Nebraska. 

Slender,  erect  white  wands  make  conspicuous  advertisements 
in  shady  retreats  at  midsummer,  when  insect  life  is  at  its  height 
and  floral  competition  for  insect  favors  at  its  fiercest.  Next  of 
kin  to  the  tiny  blue  speedwell,  these  minute,  pallid  blossoms 
could  have  little  hope  of  winning  wooers  were  they  not  living 
examples  of  the  adage,  "In  union  there  is  strength."  Great  num- 
bers crowded  together  on  a  single  spike,  and  several  spikes  in  a 
cluster  that  towers  above  the  woodland  undergrowth,  cannot 
well  be  overlooked  by  the  dullest  insects,  especially  as  nectar  re- 
wards the  search  of  those  having  midlength  or  long  tongues. 
Simply  by  crawling  over  the  spikes,  of  which  the  terminal  one 
usually  matures  first,  they  fertilize  the  little  flowers.  The  pollen 
thrust  far  out  of  each  tube  in  the  early  stage  of  bloom,  has  usually 
all  been  brushed  off  on  the  under  side  of  bees,  wasps,  butterflies, 
flies,  and  beetles  before  the  stigma  matures;  nevertheless,  when 
it  becomes  susceptible,  the  anthers  spread  apart  to  keep  out  of  its 
way  lest  any  left-over  pollen  should  touch  it. 

"The  leaves  of  the  herbage  at  our  feet,"  says  Ruskin,  "take 
all  kinds  of  strange  shapes,  as  if  to  invite  us  to  examine  them. 
Star-shaped,  heart-shaped,  spear-shaped,  arrow-shaped,  fretted, 
fringed,  cleft,  furrowed,  serrated,  in  whorles,  in  tufts,  in  wreaths, 

250 


White  and  Greenish 

in  spires,  endlessly  expressive,  deceptive,  fantastic,  never  the 
same  from  footstalks  to  blossom,  they  seem  perpetually  to  tempt 
our  watchfulness,  and  take  delight  in  outstripping  our  wonder." 
Doubtless  light  is  the  factor  with  the  greatest  effect  in  determin- 
ing the  position  of  the  leaves  on  the  stem,  if  not  their  shape. 
After  plenty  of  light  has  been  secured,  any  aid  they  may  render 
the  flowers  in  increasing  their  attractiveness  is  gladly  rendered. 
Who  shall  deny  that  the  brilliant  foliage  of  the  sumacs,  the 
dogwood,  and  the  pokeweed  in  autumn  does  not  greatly  help 
them  in  attracting  the  attention  of  migrating  birds  to  their  fruit, 
whose  seeds  they  wish  distributed  ?  Or  that  the  clustered  leaves 
of  the  dwarf  cornel  and  Culver's-root,  among  others,  do  not  set 
off  to  great  advantage  their  white  flowers  which,  when  seen  by 
an  insect  flying  overhead,  are  made  doubly  conspicuous  by  the 
leafy  background  formed  by  the  whorl? 


Button-bush  j    Honey-balls  ;    Globe-flower  ; 
Button-ball  Shrub;    River-bush 

(Cepbalanthus  occidentalis)  Madder  family 

Flowers — Fragrant,  white,  small,  tubular,  hairy  within,  4-parted, 
the  long,  yellow-tipped  style  far  protruding  ;  the  florets 
clustered  on  a  fleshy  receptacle,  in  round  heads  (about  i  in. 
across),  elevated  on  long  peduncles  from  leaf-axils  or  ends 
of  branches.  Stem:  A  shrub  3  to  12  ft.  high.  Leaves: 
Opposite  or  in  small  whorls,  petioled,  oval,  tapering  at  the 
tip,  entire. 

Preferred  Habitat— &v$\diQ  streams  and  ponds  ;  swamps,  low 
ground. 

Flowering  Season — J une — September. 

Distribution— New  Brunswick  to  Florida  and  Cuba,  westward  to 
Arizona  and  California. 

Delicious  fragrance,  faintly  suggesting  jessamine,  leads  one 
over  marshy  ground  to  where  the  button-bush  displays  dense, 
creamy- white  globes  of  bloom,  heads  that  Miss  Lounsberry  aptly 
likens  to  "  little  cushions  full  of  pins."  Not  far  away  the  sweet 
breath  of  the  white-spiked  clethra  comes  at  the  same  season, 
and  one  cannot  but  wonder  why  these  two  bushes,  which 
are  so  beautiful  when  most  garden  shrubbery  is  out  of  flower, 
should  be  left  to  waste  their  sweetness,  if  not  on  desert  air  exactly, 
on  air  that  blows  far  from  the  homes  of  men.  Partially  shaded 
and  sheltered  positions  near  a  house,  if  possible,  suit  these  water 
lovers  admirably.  Cultivation  only  increases  their  charms.  We 

251 


White  and  Greenish 

have  not  so  many  fragrant  wild  flowers  that  any  can  be  neglected. 
John  Burroughs,  who  included  the  blossoms  of  several  trees  in  his 
list  of  fragrant  ones,  found  only  thirty-odd  species  in  New  Eng- 
land and  New  York. 

Examine  a  well-developed  ball  of  bloom  on  the  button-bush 
under  a  magnifying  glass  to  appreciate  its  perfection  of  detail. 
After  counting  two  hundred  and  fifty  minute  florets,  tightly 
clustered,  one's  tired  eyes  give  out.  A  honey-ball,  with  a  well 
of  nectar  in  each  of  these  narrow  tubes,  invites  hosts  of  insects 
to  its  hospitable  feast;  but  only  visitors  long  and  slender  of  tongue 
can  drain  the  last  drop,  therefore  the  vicinity  of  this  bush  is  an 
excellent  place  for  a  butterfly  collector  to  carry  his  net.  Butter- 
flies are  by  far  the  most  abundant  visitors ;  honey-bees  also  abound, 
bumblebees,  carpenter  and  mining  bees,  wasps,  a  horde  of  flies, 
and  some  destructive  beetles;  but  the  short  tongues  can  reach 
little  nectar.  Why  do  the  pistils  of  the  florets  protrude  so  far  ? 
Even  before  each  minute  bud  opened,  all  its  pollen  had  been  shed 
on  the  tip  of  the  style,  to  be  in  a  position  to  be  removed  by  the 
first  visitor  alighting  on  the  ball  of  bloom.  After  the  removal  of 
the  pollen  from  the  still  immature  stigma,  it  becomes  sticky,  to 
receive  the  importation  from  other  blossoms.  Did  not  the  floret 
pass  through  two  distinct  stages,  first  male,  then  female,  self- 
fertilization,  not  cross-fertilization,  would  be  the  inevitable  result. 
The  dull  red  and  green  seed-balls,  which  take  on  brown  and 
bronze  tints  after  frost,  make  beautiful  additions  to  an  autumn 
bouquet.  The  bush  is  next  of  kin  to  the  coffee. 


Partridge    Vine;   Twin-berry;    Mitchella-vine ; 
Squaw-berry 

(Mitchella  repens)  Madder  family 

Flowers — Waxy,  white  (pink  in  bud),  fragrant,  growing  in  pairs 
at  ends  of  the  branches.  Calyx  usually  4-lobed ;  corolla  fun- 
nel-form, about  y*  in.  long,  the  4  spreading  lobes  bearded 
within;  4  stamens  inserted  on  corolla  throat;  i  style  with  4 
stigmas;  the  ovaries  of  the  twin  flowers  united.  (The  style  is 
long  when  the  stamens  are  short,  or  vice  versa).  Stem: 
Slender,  trailing,  rooting  at  joints,  6  to  12  in.  long,  with 
numerous  erect  branches.  Leaves:  Opposite,  entire,  short 
petioled,  oval  or  rounded,  evergreen,  dark,  sometimes  white 
veined.  Fruit:  A  small,  red,  edible,  double  berry-like  drupe. 

Preferred  Habitat — Woods ;  usually,  but  not  always,  dry  ones. 

Flowering  Season — April — June.     Sometimes  again  in  autumn. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  the  Gulf  States,  westward  to  Minne- 
sota and  Texas. 

252 


White  and  Greenish 

A  carpet  of  these  dark,  shining,  little  evergreen  leaves,  spread 
at  the  foot  of  forest  trees,  whether  sprinkled  over  in  June  with 
pairs  of  waxy,  cream-white,  pink-tipped,  velvety,  lilac-scented 
flowers  that  suggest  attenuated  arbutus  blossoms,  or  with  coral- 
red  "berries"  in  autumn  and  winter,  is  surely  one  of  the  loveliest 
sights  in  the  woods.  Transplanted  to  the  home  garden  in  closely 
packed,  generous  clumps,  with  plenty  of  leaf-mould,  or,  better  still, 
chopped  spagnum,  about  them,  they  soon  spread  into  thick  mats 
in  the  rockery,  the  hardy  fernery,  or  about  the  roots  of  rhodo- 
dendrons and  the  taller  shrubs  that  permit  some  sunlight  to  reach 
them.  No  woodland  creeper  rewards  our  care  with  greater  luxu- 
riance of  growth.  Growing  near  our  homes,  the  partridge  vine 
offers  an  excellent  opportunity  for  study. 

The  two  flowers  at  the  tip  of  a  branch  may  grow  distinct 
down  to  their  united  ovaries,  or  their  tubes  may  be  partly  united, 
like  Siamese  twins — a  union  which  in  either  case  accounts  for 
the  odd  shape  of  the  so-called  berry,  that  shows  further  traces  of 
consolidation  in  its  "two  eyes,"  the  remnants  of  eight  calyx 
teeth.  Experiment  proves  that  when  only  one  of  the  twin  flowers 
is  pollenized  by  insects  (excluded  from  the  other  one  by  a  net),  fruit 
is  rarely  set ;  but  when  both  are,  a  healthy  seeded  berry  follows. 
To  secure  cross-fertilization,  the  partridge  flower,  like  the  bluets 
(see  p.  62),  occurs  in  two  different  forms  on  distinct  plants,  seed 
from  either  producing  after  its  kind.  In  one  form  the  style  is  low 
within  the  tube,  and  the  stamens  protrude ;  in  the  other  form  the  sta- 
mens are  concealed,  and  the  style,  with  its  four  spreading  stigmas, 
is  exserted.  No  single  flower  matures  both  its  reproductive  organs. 
Short-tongued  small  bees  and  flies  cannot  reach  the  nectar  re- 
served for  the  blossom's  benefactors  because  of  the  hairs  inside 
the  tube,  which  nearly  close  it;  but  larger  bees  and  butterflies 
coming  to  suck  a  flower  with  tall  stamens  receive  pollen  on  the 
precise  spot  on  their  long  tongues  that  will  come  in  contact  with 
the  sticky  stigmas  of  the  long-styled  form  visited  later,  and  there 
rub  the  pollen  off.  The  lobes'  velvety  surface  keeps  insect  feet 
from  slipping. 

What  endless  confusion  arises  through  giving  the  same  popu- 
lar folk  names  to  different  species !  The  Bob  White,  which  is  called 
quail  in  New  England  or  wherever  the  ruffed  grouse  is  known  as 
partridge,  is  called  partridge  in  the  Middle  and  Southern  States, 
where  the  ruffed  grouse  is  known  as  pheasant.  But  as  both 
these  distributing  agents,  like  most  winter  rovers,  whether  bird  or 
beast,  are  inordinately  fond  of  this  tasteless  partridge  berry,  as 
well  as  of  the  spicy  fruit  of  quite  another  species,  the  aromatic 
wintergreen  (p.  238),  which  shares  with  it  a  number  of  common 
names,  every  one  may  associate  whatever  bird  and  berry  that 
best  suit  him.  The  delicious  little  twin-flower,  beloved  of  Lin- 
naeus, also  comes  in  for  a  share  of  lost  identity  through  confusion 
with  the  partridge  vine. 

253 


White  and  Greenish 


Cleavers;    Goose-grass;    Bedstraw 

(Galium  Aparine)  Madder  family 

Flowers — Small,  white,  4-parted,  inconspicuous,  in  clusters  of  i 
to  ^  on  peduncles  from  the  axils  of  upper  leaves.  Stem :  2 
to  5  ft.  long,  scrambling,  weak,  square;  bristly  on  the  angles. 
Leaves :  In  whorls  of  6  or  8,  narrow,  midrib  and  edges  very 
rough.  Fruit:  Rounded,  twin  seed-vessels,  beset  with  many 
hooked  bristles. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Shady  ground. 

Flowering  Season — May — September. 

Distribution — Eastern  half  of  United  States  and  Canada. 

Among  some  seventy  other  English  folk  names  by  which 
cleavers  are  known  are  the  following,  taken  from  Britton  and 
Brown's  "Illustrated  Flora":  "Catchweed,  Beggar-lice,  Burhead, 
Clover-grass,  Cling-rascal,  Scratch-grass,  Wild  Hedge-burs,  Hairif 
or  Airif,  Stick-a-back  or  Stickle-back,  Gosling-grass  or  Gosling- 
weed,  Turkey-grass,  Pigtail,  Grip  or  Grip-grass,  Loveman,  Sweet- 
hearts." From  these  it  will  be  seen  that  the  insignificant  little 
white  flowers  impress  not  the  popular  mind.  But  the  twin  burs 
which  steal  a  ride  on  every  passing  animal,  whether  man  or  beast, 
in  the  hope  of  reaching  new  colonizing  ground  far  from  the 
parent  plant,  rarely  fail  to  make  an  impression  on  one  who  has 
to  pick  trailing  sprays  beset  with  them  off  woollen  clothing. 

Several  other  similar  bur-bearing  relatives  there  are,  common 
in  various  parts  of  America  as  they  are  in  Europe.  The  Sweet- 
scented  Bedstraw  (G.  trifoliuni),  always  with  three  little  greenish 
flowers  at  the  end  of  a  footstalk,  or  branched  into  three  pedicels 
that  are  one  to  three  flowered,  and  with  narrowly  oval,  one- 
nerved  leaves  arranged  in  whorls  of  six  on  its  square  stem,  ranges 
from  ocean  to  ocean  on  this  continent,  over  northern  Europe,  and 
in  Asia  from  Japan  to  the  Himalayas.  It  will  be  noticed  that 
plants  depending  upon  the  by  hook  or  by  crook  method  of  travel 
are  among  the  best  of  globe  trotters.  This  species  becomes  in- 
creasingly fragrant  as  it  dries. 


Common  Elder;  Black-berried,  American,  or 
Sweet  Elder  ;   Elderberry 

(Sambucus  Canadensis)   Honeysuckle  family 

Flowers — Small,  creamy,  white,  numerous,  odorous,  in  large,  flat- 
topped,  or  convex  cymes  at  ends  of  branches.    Calyx  tubular, 
minute  ;  corolla  of  5  spreading  lobes  ;  5  stamens  ;  style  short, 
254 


White  and  Greenish 

^-parted.  Stem:  A  shrub  4  to  10  ft.  high,  smooth,  pithy, 
with  little  wood.  Leaves:  Opposite,  pinnately  compounded 
of  5  to  ii  (usually  7)  oval,  pointed,  and  saw-edged  leaflets, 
heavy-scented  when  crushed.  Fruit:  Reddish-black,  juicy 
"berries  "  (drupes). 

Preferred  Habitat—  Rich,  moist  soil  ;  open  situation. 

Flowering  Season — June — July. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  westward 
2,000  miles. 

Flowers  far  less  beautiful  than  these  flat-spread,  misty  clus- 
ters, that  are  borne  in  such  profusion  along  the  country  lane  and 
meadow  hedgerows  in  June,  are  brought  from  the  ends  of  the 
earth  to  adorn  our  over-conventional  gardens.  Certain  European 
relatives,  with  golden  or  otherwise  variegated  foliage  that  looks 
sickly  after  the  first  resplendent  outburst  in  spring,  receive  places 
of  honor  with  monotonous  frequency  in  American  shrubbery 
borders. 

Like  the  wild  carrot  among  all  the  umbel-bearers,  and  the 
daisy  among  the  horde  of  composites,  the  elder  flower  has  massed 
its  minute  florets  together,  knowing  that  there  was  no  hope  of 
attracting  insect  friends,  except  in  such  union.  Where  clumps  of 
elder  grow — and  society  it  ever  prefers  to  solitude — few  shrubs, 
looked  at  from  above,  which,  of  course,  is  the  winged  insect's  point 
of  view,  offer  a  better  advertisement.  There  are  people  who  ob- 
ject to  the  honey-like  odor  of  the  flowers.  Doubtless  this  is  what 
most  attracts  the  flies  and  beetles,  while  the  lesser  bees,  that  fre- 
quent them  also,  are  more  strongly  appealed  to  through  the  eye. 
No  nectar  rewards  visitors,  consequently  butterflies  rarely  stop  on 
the  flat  clusters;  but  there  is  an  abundant  lunch  of  pollen  for  such 
as  like  it.  Each  minute  floret  has  its  five  anthers  so  widely  spread 
away  from  the  stigmas  that  self-pollination  is  impossible ;  but  with 
the  help  of  small,  winged  pollen  carriers  plenty  of  cross-fertilized 
fruit  forms.  With  the  help  of  migrating  birds,  the  minute  nutlets 
within  the  "berries  "  are  distributed  far  and  wide. 

When  clusters  of  dark,  juicy  fruit  make  the  bush  top-heavy, 
it  is,  of  course,  no  part  of  their  plan  to  be  gathered  into  pails, 
crushed  and  boiled  and  fermented  into  the  spicy  elderberry  wine 
that  is  still  as  regularly  made  in  some  old-fashioned  kitchens  as 
currant  jelly  and  pickled  peaches.  Both  flowers  and  fruit  have 
strong  medicinal  properties.  Snuffling  children  are  not  loath  to 
swallow  sugar  pills  moistened  with  the  homoeopathic  tincture  of 
Sambucus.  The  common  European  species  (S.  nigra),  a  mystic 
plant,  was  once  employed  to  cure  every  ill  that  flesh  is  heir  to  ; 
not  only  that,  but,  when  used  as  a  switch,  it  was  believed  to 
check  a  lad's  growth.  Very  likely  !  Every  whittling  schoolboy 
knows  how  easy  it  is  to  remove  the  white  pith  from  an  elder 
stem.  An  ancie/it  musical  instrument,  the  sambuca,  was  doubt- 

255 


White  and  Greenish 

less  made  from  many  such  hollow  reed-like  sticks  properly  at- 
tuned. 

A  more  woody  species  than  the  common  elder,  whose  stems 
are  so  green  it  is  scarcely  like  a  true  shrub,  is  the  very  beautiful 
Red-berried  or  Mountain  Elder  (S.  pubens),  found  in  rocky  places, 
especially  in  uplands  and  high  altitudes,  from  the  British  Posses- 
sions north  of  us  to  Georgia  on  the  Atlantic  Coast,  and  to  California 
on  the  Pacific.  Coming  into  bloom  in  April  or  May,  it  produces 
numerous  flower  clusters  which  are  longer  than  broad,  pyramidal 
rather  than  flat-topped.  They  turn  brown  when  drying.  In 
young  twigs  the  pith  is  reddish-brown,  not  white  as  in  the 
common  elder.  Birds  with  increased  families  to  feed  in  June 
are  naturally  attracted  by  the  bright  red  fruit ;  and  while  they 
may  not  distribute  the  stones  over  so  vast  an  area  as  autumn 
migrants  do  those  of  the  fall  berries,  they  nevertheless  have  en- 
abled the  shrub  to  travel  across  our  continent. 


Hobble-bush;  American  Wayfaring  Tree 

(Viburnum  alnifolium)  Honeysuckle  family 
(K.  lanMnoides  of  Gray) 

Flowers — In  loose,  compound,  flat,  terminal  clusters,  3  to  5  in. 
across  ;  the  outer,  showy,  white  flowers  each  about  i  in. 
across,  neutral  ;  inner  ones  very  much  smaller,  perfect. 
Calyx  5-parted;  corolla  5-lobed;  5  stamens;  3  stigmas. 
Stem:  A  widely  and  irregularly  branching  shrub,  sometimes 
10  ft.  high  ;  the  young  twigs  rusty  scurfy.  Leaves : 
Opposite,  rounded  or  broadly  ovate,  pointed'  at  the  tip, 
finely  saw-edged,  unevenly  divided  by  midrib,  scurfy  on 
veins  beneath.  Fruit:  Not  edible,  berry-like,  at  first  coral- 
red,  afterward  darker. 

Preferred  Habitat — Cool,  low,  moist  woods. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution — North  Carolina  and  Michigan,  far  northward. 

Widespread,  irregular  clusters  of  white  bloom,  that  suggest 
heads  of  hydrangea  whose  plan  has  somehow  miscarried,  form 
a  very  decorative  feature  of  the  woods  in  May,  when  the  shrubbery 
in  Nature's  garden,  as  in  men's,  is  in  its  glory.  For  what  reason 
are  there  two-  sizes  and  kinds  of  flowers  in  each  cluster  ?  Around 
the  outer  margin  are  large  showy  shams  :  they  lack  the  essential 
organs,  the  stamens  and  pistil ;  therefore  what  use  are  they  ?  Un- 
doubtedly they  are  mere  advertisements  to  catch  the  eye  of 
passing  insects — no  small  service,  however.  It  is  the  inconspicu- 

256 


White  and  Greenish 

ous  little  flowers  grouped  within  their  circle  that  attend  to  the 
serious  business  of  life.  The  shrub  found  it  good  economy  to 
increase  the  size  of  the  outer  row  of  flowers,  even  at  the  expense 
of  their  reproductive  organs,  simply  to  add  to  the  conspicuous- 
ness  of  the  clusters,  when  so  many  blossoms  enter  into  fierce 
competition  with  them  for  insect  trade.  Many  beetles,  attracted 
by  the  white  color,  come  to  feed  on  pollen,  and  often  destroy  the 
anthers  in  their  greed.  But  the  lesser  bees  (Andrena  chiefly), 
and  more  flies,  whose  short  tongues  easily  obtain  the  accessible 
nectar,  render  constant  service.  These  welcome  guests  we  have 
to  thank  for  the  clusters  of  coral-red  berries  that  make  the  shrub 
even  more  beautiful  in  September  than  in  May. 

Because  it  sometimes  sends  its  straggling  branches  down- 
ward in  loops  that  touch  the  ground  and  trip  up  the  unwary 
pedestrian,  who  presumably  hobbles  off  in  pain,  the  bush 
received  a  name  with  which  the  stumbler  will  be  the  last  to  find 
fault.  From  the  bark  of  the  Wayfaring  Tree  of  the  Old  World 
(K  lantana),  the  tips  of  whose  procumbent  branches  often  take 
root  as  they  lie  on  the  ground,  is  obtained  bird-lime.  No  warm, 
sticky  scales  enclose  the  buds  of  our  hardy  hobble-bush  ;  the 
only  protection  for  its  tender  baby  foliage  is  in  the  scurfy  coat  on 
its  twigs ;  yet  with  this  thin  covering,  or  without  it,  the  young 
leaves  safely  withstand  the  intense  cold  of  northern  winters. 


The  chief  beauty  of  the  High  Bush-Cranberry,  Cranberry 
Tree,  or  Wild  Guelder-rose  (K.  Opulus)  lies  in  its  clusters  of  bright 
red,  oval,  very  acid  "  berries  "  (drupes),  that  are  commonly  used  by 
country  people  as  a  substitute  for  the  fruit  they  so  closely  resemble. 
This  is  a  symmetrical,  erect,  tall,  smooth  shrub,  found  in  moist,  low 
ground.  Among  the  Berkshires  it  grows  in  perfection.  From 
New  Jersey,  Michigan,  and  Oregon  far  northward  is  its  range  ; 
also  in  Europe  and  Asia.  The  broadly  ovate,  saw-edged,  three- 
lobed  leaves  are  more  or  less  hairy  along  the  veins  on  the  under- 
side. Like  the  hobble-bush,  this  one  produces  an  outer  circle  of 
showy,  neutral  flowers,  as  advertisements,  on  its  peduncled,  flat 
cluster;  and  small,  perfect  ones,  to  reproduce  the  species,  in  June 
or  July.  As  the  flies  and  small  pollen-collecting  bees  move  rap- 
idly over  a  corymb  to  feast  on  the  layer  of  nectar  freely  exposed 
for  their  benefit,  they  usually  cross-fertilize  the  flowers  ;  for,  as 
Miiller  pointed  out,  the  anthers  and  stigmas  of  each  come  in  con- 
tact with  different  parts  of  the  insect's  feet  or  tongue.  Beetles, 
which  visit  the  clusters  in  great  numbers,  often  prove  destructive 
visitors.  Kerner  claims  that  nectar  is  secreted  in  the  leaves  of 
this  species,  whether  in  the  two  glands  that  appear  at  the  top  of 
the  petioles  or  not,  he  does  not  say.  Of  what  possible  advantage 
to  the  plant  could  such  an  arrangement  be  ?  Plants,  as  well  as 
humans,  are  not  in  business  for  philanthropy. 
17  257 


White  and  Greenish 

No  garden  is  complete — was  garden  ever  complete  ? — without 
the  beautiful  snowball  bush,  a  sterile  variety  of  this  shrub,  with 
whose  abundant  balls  of  white  flowers  every  one  is  familiar. 
When  various  members  of  the  viburnum  and  the  hydrangea 
tribes  are  cultivated,  the  corollas  of  both  the  small  interior  flowers 
and  those  in  the  showy  exterior  circle  become  largely  developed, 
while  the  reproductive  organs  of  the  former  gradually  become 
abortive.  The  snowball  bush  rather  overdoes  its  advertising  busi- 
ness ;  for  however  attractive  its  round  white  masses  of  sterile 
bloom,  the  effect  is  of  no  advantage  to  itself. 

In  light,  dry,  rocky  woods,  from  North  Carolina  and  Minne- 
sota, far  northward,  grows  the  common  Maple-leaved  Arrow- 
wood  or  Dockmackie  (K.  acerifoliutri),  which  one  might  easily 
mistake  for  a  maple  sapling  when  it  is  not  in  flower  or  fruit.  All 
the  blossoms  in  its  slender  peduncled,  flat-topped,  white  clusters 
are  perfect  ;  none  are  sterile  for  advertising  purposes  merely,  as 
in  the  cases  of  so  many  of  its  relatives.  The  five  stamens  pro- 
trude from  each  five-lobed  little  flower  for  plain  reasons.  The 
opposite  leaves  are  broadly  ovate,  three-ribbed,  three-lobed, 
coarsely  toothed,  acute  at  the  tip,  and,  except  for  their  soft  hairi- 
ness underneath,  are  too  like  maple  leaves  to  be  mistaken.  In 
autumn,  when  they  take  on  rich  tints,  and  the  clusters  of  "ber- 
ries" become  first  crimson,  then  nearly  black,  the  shrub  is  a 
delight  to  see. 

To  become  familiar  with  one  of  the  Viburnum  bushes  is  to 
recognize  any  member  of  the  tribe  when  in  blossom  or  fruit,  for  all 
spread  more  or  less  flattened,  compound  cymes  of  white  flowers 
in  late  spring  or  early  summer,  followed  by  red  or  very  dark  "ber- 
ries "  (drupes)  ;  but  it  is  on  the  leaves  that  we  depend  to  name  a 
species.  The  opposite,  slender  petioled,  pale  leaves  of  the  Arrow- 
wood,  or  Mealy-tree  (K.  denfalum),  have  no  lobes  ;  but  are  ovate, 
coarsely  toothed,  pointed  at  the  tip,  prominently  pinnately  veined. 
All  the  flowers  in  a  cyme  are  perfect  ;  and  the  drupes,  which  are 
at  first  blue,  become  nearly  black  when  fully  ripe.  In  moist,  or 
even  wet,  ground,  from  the  Georgia  mountains,  western  New 
York,  and  Minnesota  far  northward,  this  smooth,  slender,  gray 
shrub  is  found.  Its  wood  once  furnished  the  Indians  with  arrows. 

A  much  lower  growing,  but  similar,  bush,  the  Downy-leaved 
Arrow- wood  (V.  pubescens),  formerly  counted  a  mere  variety  of 
the  preceding,  may  be  known  by  the  velvety  down  on  the  under 
side  of  its  leaves.  It  grows  in  rocky,  wooded  places,  often  on 
some  high  bank  above  a  stream.  Beetles  and  the  less  specialized 
bees  visit  the  flat-topped  flower  clusters  abundantly  in  May. 
Short-tongued  visitors  quickly  lick  up  the  abundant  nectar 
secreted  at  the  base  of  each  little  style,  cross-fertilizing  their  enter- 

258 


White  and  Greenish 

tainers  as  they  journey  across  the  cyme.  So  widely  do  the  anthers 
diverge,  that  pollen  must  often  drop  on  the  stigma  of  a  neighbor- 
ing floret,  and  quite  as  often  a  flower  is  likely  to  be  self-fertilized 
through  the  curvature  of  the  filaments. 

The  Withe-rod  or  Appalachian  Tea  (V.  cassinoides) — V. 
nudum  of  Gray— is  found  in  swamps  and  wet  ground  from  North 
Carolina  and  Minnesota  northward,  flowering  in  May  or  June. 
Its  dense  clusters  of  perfect,  small  white  flowers,  on  a  rather  short 
peduncle,  are  followed  by  oval  "berries"  that,  although  pink  at 
first,  soon  turn  a  dark  blue,  with  a  bloom  like  the  huckleberry's. 
The  opposite,  oval  to  oblong,  rather  thick,  smooth  leaves  and 
the  somewhat  scurfy  twigs  help  the  novice  to  name  this  common 
shrub,  whose  tough,  pliable  branches  make  excellent  binders  for 
farmer's  bundles,  but  whose  leaves  cannot  be  recommended  as  a 
substitute  for  tea. 

Beautiful  enough  for  any  gentleman's  lawn  is  the  Sweet 
Viburnum,  Nanny-berry,  Sheep-berry,  or  Nanny-bush,  as  it  is 
variously  called  (V.  Lenlago).  Indeed,  its  name  appears  in  many 
nurserymen's  catalogues.  From  Georgia,  Indiana,  and  Missouri 
far  northward  it  grows  in  rich,  moist  soil,  sometimes  attaining 
the  height  of  a  tree,  more  frequently  that  of  a  good-sized  shrub. 
A  profusion  of  dense  white,  broad  flower  clusters,  seated  among 
the  rich  green  terminal  leaves  in  May,  indicate  a  feast  for  migrat- 
ing birds  and  hungry  beasts,  including  the  omnivorous  small  boy 
in  October,  when  the  bluish-black,  bloom-covered,  sweet,  edible 
"berries"  ripen.  A  peculiarity  of  the  ovate,  long-tapering,  and 
finely  saw-edged  leaves  is  that  their  long  petioles  often  broaden 
out  and  become  wavy  margined. 

Another  Viburnum,  with  smooth,  bluish-black,  sweet,  and 
edible  fruit,  that  ripens  a  month  earlier  than  the  nanny-berry's, 
is  the  similar  Black  Haw,  Stag-bush,  or  Sloe  (K.  prunifolium] . 
As  its  Latin  name  indicates,  the  leaves  suggest  those  of  a  plum 
tree.  It  is  a  very  early  bloomer,  the  flat-topped  white  clusters 
appearing  in  April,  and  lasting  through  June,  in  various  parts  of 
its  range  from  the  Gulf  States  to  southern  New  England  and 
Michigan.  Unlike  the  hobble-bush  and  the  withe-rod,  both  the 
nanny-berry  and  the  black  haw  have  conspicuous  winter  buds, 
the  latter  bush  often  clothing  its  tender  undeveloped  foliage  with 
warm-looking  reddish  down,  although  few  of  its  naked  km  have 
so  southerly  a  range. 


259 


White  and  Greenish 


One-seeded,  Bur-  or  Star  Cucumber;  Nimble 
Kate 

(Sicyos  angulatus)  Gourd  family 

Flowers— Small,  greenish-white,  5-parted,  of  2  kinds  :  staminate 
ones  in  a  loose  raceme  on  a  very  long  peduncle  ;  fertile  ones 
clustered  in  a  little  head  on  a  short  peduncle.  Stem :  A 
climbing  vine  with  branched  tendrils  ;  more  or  less  sticky- 
hairy.  Leaves:  Broad,  ^-angled  or  5-lobed,  heart-shaped 
at  base,  rough,  sometimes  enormous,  on  stout  petioles. 
Fruit:  From  3  to  10  bur-like,  yellowish,  prickly  seed-ves- 
sels in  a  star-shaped  cluster,  each  containing  one  seed. 

Preferred  Habitat — Moist,  shady  waste  ground;  banks  of  streams. 

Flowering  Season — J une — September. 

Distribution — Quebec  to  the  Gulf  States,  and  westward  beyond 
the  Mississippi. 

In  a  damp,  shady,  waste  corner,  perhaps  the  first  weed  to 
take  possession  is  the  star  cucumber,  a  poor  relation  of  the  musk 
and  water  melons,  the  squash,  cucumber,  pumpkin,  and  gourd  of 
the  garden.  Its  sole  use  yet  discovered  is  to  screen  ugly  fences 
and  rubbish  heaps  by  climbing  and  trailing  luxuriantly  over 
everything  within  reach.  That  it  thinks  more  highly  of  its  own 
importance  in  the  world  than  men  do  of  it,  is  shown  by  the  pre- 
caution it  takes  to  insure  a  continuance  of  its  species.  By 
separating  the  sexes  of  its  flowers,  like  Quakers  at  meeting,  it 
prevents  self-fertilization,  and  compels  its  small-winged  visitors 
to  carry  the  smooth-banded,  rough  pollen  from  the  staminate  to 
the  tiny  pistillate  group.  By  roughening  its  angled  stem  and 
leaves,  it  discourages  pilfering  ants  and  other  crawlers  from 
reaching  the  sweets  reserved  for  legitimate  benefactors.  So 
extremely  sensitive  are  the  tips  of  the  tendrils  that  by  rubbing 
them  with  the  finger  they  will  coil  up  perceptibly;  then  straighten 
out  again  if  they  find  they  have  been  deceived,  and  that  there  is 
no  stick  for  them  to  twine  around.  Give  them  a  stick,  however, 
and  the  coils  remain  fixed. 


Rattlesnake-root;  White  Lettuce,  or  Canker- 
weed  ;  Lion's-foot 

(Nabalus  albus)  Chickory  family 

Flower-heads — Composite,  numerous,  greenish  or  cream  white, 
or  tinged  with  lilac,  fragrant,  nodding;  borne  in  loose,  open, 
narrow  terminal,  and  axillary  clusters.  Each  bell-like  flower- 

260 


White  and  Greenish 

head  only  about  X  in-  across,  composed  of  8  to  1 5  ray  flowers, 
drooping  from  a  cup-like  involucre  consisting  of  8  principal, 
colored  bracts.  Stem  :  2  to  5  ft.  high,  smooth,  green  or  dark 
purplish  red,  leafy,  from  a  tuberous,  bitter  root.  Leaves: 
Alternate,  variable,  sometimes  very  large,  broad,  hastate, 
ovate,  or  heart-shaped,  wavy-toothed,  lobed,  or  palmately 
cleft  ;  upper  leaves  smaller,  lance-shaped,  entire. 

Preferred  Habitat— W roods  ;  rich,  moist  borders;  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — August — September. 

Distribution — Southern  Canada  to  Georgia  and  Kentucky. 

Nodding  in  graceful,  open  clusters  from  the  top  of  a  shining 
colored  stalk,  the  inconspicuous  little  bell-like  flowers  of  this 
common  plant  spread  their  rays  to  release  the  branching  styles  for 
contact  with  pollen-laden  visitors.  These  styles  presently  become 
a  bunch  of  cinnamon-colored  hairs,  a  seed-tassel  resembling  a 
sable  paint  brush — the  principal  feature  that  distinguishes  this  spe- 
cies from  the  smaller-flowered  Tall  White  Lettuce  (N.  altissimus), 
whose  pappus  is  a  light  straw  color.  Both  these  plants  are  most 
easily  recognized  when  their  fluffy,  plumed  seeds  are  waiting  for  a 
stiff  breeze  to  waft  them  to  fresh  colonizing  ground. 


Boneset;   Common   Thoroughwort ;  Ague- 
weed  ;    Indian    Sage 

(Eupatorium  perfoliatum)  Thistle  family 

Flower-heads — Composite,  the  numerous,  small,  dull,  white  heads 
of  tubular  florets  only,  crowded  in  a  scaly  involucre  and 
borne  in  spreading,  flat-topped  terminal  cymes.  Stem:  Stout, 
tall,  branching  above,  hairy,  leafy.  Leaves :  Opposite,  often 
united  at  their  bases,  or  clasping,  lance-shaped,  saw-edged, 
wrinkled. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Wet  ground,  low  meadows,  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — J uly — September. 

Distribution — From  the  Gulf  States  north  to  Nebraska,  Manitoba, 
and  New  Brunswick. 

Frequently,  in  just  such  situations  as  its  sister  the  Joe-Pye 
weed  selects  (p.  148),  and  with  similar  intent,  theboneset  spreads 
its  soft,  leaden-white  bloom  ;  but  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  but- 
terflies, which  love  color,  especially  deep  pinks  and  magenta,  let 
this  plant  alone,  whereas  beetles,  that  do  not  find  the  butterfly's 
favorite,  fragrant  Joe-Pye  weed  at  all  to  their  liking,  prefer  these 
dull,  odorous  flowers.  Many  flies,  wasps,  and  bees  also,  get 
generous  entertainment  in  these  tiny  florets,  where  they  feast 

261 


White  and  Greenish 

with  the  minimum  loss  of  time,  each  head  in  a  cluster  containing, 
as  it  does,  from  ten  to  sixteen  restaurants.  An  ant  crawling  up 
the  stem  is  usually  discouraged  by  its  hairs  long  before  reaching 
the  sweets.  Sometimes  the  stem  appears  to  run  through  the 
centre  of  one  large  leaf  that  is  kinky  in  the  middle  and  taper- 
pointed  at  both  ends,  rather  than  between  a  pair  of  leaves. 

An  old-fashioned  illness  known  as  break-bone  fever — doubt- 
less paralleled  to-day  by  the  grippe — once  had  its  terrors  for  a 
patient  increased  a  hundredfold  by  the  certainty  he  felt  of  taking 
nauseous  doses  of  boneset  tea,  administered  by  zealous  old  women 
outside  the  "regular  practice."  Children  who  had  to  have  their 
noses  held  before  they  would — or,  indeed,  could — swallow  the 
decoction,  cheerfully  munched  boneset  taffy  instead. 


The  bright  white,  wide-spread  inflorescence  of  the  White 
Snakeroot,  White  or  Indian  Sanicle,  or  Deerwort  Boneset  (£. 
ageratoides]  is  displayed  from  July  to  November  in  the  hope  of 
getting  relief  from  the  fiercest  competition  for  the  visits  of  but- 
terflies, honey  and  other  small  bees,  wasps,  and  flies.  From  July 
to  September  the  vast  army  of  composites  appear  in  such  hope- 
less predominance  that  prolonged  bloom  on  the  part  of  any  of  their 
number  is  surely  an  advantage.  In  the  rich,  moist  woods,  or  by 
shady  roadsides,  where  it  prefers  to  dwell,  the  white  sanicle 
makes  a  fine  show.  Above  its  fringy  bloom  how  often  one  sees 
the  exquisite  little  lavender-blue  butterflies  (Lycanapseudargiolus) 
pausing  an  instant  to  drain  the  tiny  cups  of  nectar,  and  usually 
transferring  pollen  from  the  protruding  styles  (see  p.  148)  as  they 
flit  to  another  cluster. 

The  opposite,  petioled  leaves,  broadly  oval  at  the  base,  taper- 
pointed,  coarsely  toothed,  three-nerved,  'and  veiny,  are  thin  and 
easily  skeletonized  by  the  insects  that  enjoy  the  leaves  of  all  this 
clan  of  plants.  From  one  to  four  feet  high,  the  White  Snakeroot 
grows  in  the  United  States  and  Canada  as  far  west  as  Nebraska. 


Closely  allied  to  the  eupatoriums,  and  with  similar  inflores- 
cence, is  the  Climbing  Boneset  or  Hempweed  (Willughbaea  scan- 
dens) — Mikania  scandens  of  Gray.  Straggling  over  bushes  in 
swamps,  by  the  brookside  thicket,  or  in  moist,  shady  roadsides, 
the  vine  reveals  its  kinship  to  the  boneset  instantly  it  comes  into 
bloom  in  midsummer,  although  its  flower  clusters  are  occasion- 
ally pinkish.  The  opposite,  petioled  leaves  are  quite  different 
from  the  boneset's,  however,  being  heart-shaped  at  the  base, 
and  taper-pointed,  somewhat  triangular,  two  to  four  inches 
long,  and  one  or  two  inches  wide.  From  Massachusetts  and 
the  Middle  States  even  to  South  America  and  the  West  Indies  is 
its  range. 

262 


White  and  Greenish 


White  Asters  or  Starworts 

(Aster  =  a  star)  Thistle  family 


In  dry,  open  woodlands,  thickets,  and  roadsides,  from  August 
to  October,  we  find  the  dainty  White  Wood  Aster  (A.  divaricatus) 
• — A.  corymbosus  of  Gray — its  brittle  zig-zag  stem  two  feet  high 
or  less,  branching  at  the  top,  and  repeatedly  forked  where  loose 
clusters  of  flower-heads  spread  in  a  broad,  rather  flat  corymb. 
Only  a  few  white  rays — usually  from  six  to  nine — surround  the 
yellow  disk,  whose  florets  soon  turn  brown.  Range  from  Canada 
southward  to  Tennessee. 

First  to  bloom  among  the  white  species,  beginning  in  July, 
is  the  Upland  White  Aster  (A.  ptarmicoides),  which  elects  to 
grow  in  the  rocky  or  dry  soil  of  high  ground  in  the  northern 
United  States  westward  to  Colorado.  The  leaves,  which  resemble 
grayish-green  shining  grass-blades,  arranged  alternately  up  the 
rigid  stem,  and  diminishing  in  size  near  the  top  until  they  become 
mere  bracts  among  the  flowers,  enable  us  to  name  the  plant. 
The  heads,  in  a  branching  cluster,  are  not  numerous  ;  each 
measures  barely  an  inch  across  its  ten  to  twenty  snow-white 
rays  ;  the  centre  is  of  a  pale  yellow-green,  turning  a  light  brown 
in  maturity. 

The  Tall  White  or  Panicled  Aster  (A.  paniculatus),  in  bloom 
from  August  to  October  in  different  parts  of  its  wide  range, 
attracts  great  numbers  of  beetles,  which  do  it  more  harm  than 
good  ;  but  many  more  butterflies  (some  of  whose  caterpillars  feed 
on  aster  foliage  as  a  staple),  quantities  of  flies,  some  moths, 
swarms  of  bees,  wasps,  and  miscellaneous  winged  visitors. 
Professor  Robertson  found  several  thousand  callers,  representing 
ninety-eight  distinct  species,  on  this  one  aster  during  four  October 
days.  Such  popularity  as  the  asters  have  attained  finds  its  just 
reward  in  the  triumphant  progress  of  the  lovely  tribe  (see  page 
73).  For  the  amateur  to  name  each  member  of  such  a  horde  is 
quite  hopeless.  In  branching,  raceme-like  clusters,  from  August 
to  October,  this  aster  displays  its  numerous  flower-heads,  less 
than  an  inch  across,  each  with  a  green  cup  formed  of  four  or  five 
series  of  overlapping  bracts,  and  many  white  rays,  occasionally 
violet  tipped.  The  smooth  stem,  which  rises  from  two  to  eight 
feet  above  moist  soil,  is  plentifully  set  with  alternate,  pointed- 
tipped,  lance-shaped  leaves,  tapering  to  a  sessile  or  partly  clasp- 
ing base,  and  sparingly  saw-edged.  Its  range  is  from  Montana 
east  to  Virginia,  south  to  Louisiana,  north  to  Ontario  and  New 
England. 

The  bushy  little  White  Heath  Aster  (A.  ericoides)  every  one 
must  know,  possibly,  as  Michaelmas  Daisy,  Farewell  Summer, 
White  Rosemary,  or  Frostweed  ;  for  none  is  commoner  in  dry 
soil,  throughout  the  eastern  United  States  at  least.  Its  smooth, 

263 


White  and  Greenish 

much  branched  stem  rarely  reaches  three  feet  in  height,  usually 
it  is  not  over  a  foot  tall,  and  its  very  numerous  flower-heads, 
white  or  pink  tinged,  barely  half  an  inch  across,  appear  in  such 
profusion  from  September  even  to  December  as  to  transform  it 
into  a  feathery  mass  of  bloom. 

Growing  like  branching  wands  of  golden  rod,  the  Dense- 
flowered,  White- wreathed,  or  Starry  Aster  (A.  multiflorus)  bears 
its  minute  flower-heads  crowded  close  along  the  branches,  where 
many  small,  stiff  leaves,  like  miniature  pine  needles,  follow  them. 
Each  flower  measures  only  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  across. 
From  Maine  to  Georgia  and  Texas  westward  to  Arizona  and 
British  Columbia  the  common  bushy  plant  lifts  its  rather  erect, 
curving,  feathery  branches  perhaps  only  a  foot,  sometimes  above 
a  man's  head,  from  August  till  November,  in  such  dry,  open, 
sterile  ground  as  the  white  heath  aster  also  chooses. 

No  one  not  a  latter-day,  structural  botanist  could  see  why  the 
Tall,  Flat-top  White  Aster  (Doellingeria  umbella)  is  now  an 
outcast  from  the  aster  tribe  into  a  separate  genus.  This  common 
species  of  moist  soil  and  swamps  has  its  numerous  small  heads 
(containing  ten  to  fifteen  rays  each)  arranged  in  large,  terminal, 
compound  clusters  (corymbs).  The  stem,  which  rises  from  two 
to  eight  feet,  has  its  long-tapering,  alternate  leaves  hairy  on  the 
veins  beneath  and  rough  margined. 

Late  in  the  fall  you  may  hear  the  rich  tone  of  a  Bombilius, 
one  of  the  commonest  flies  seen  about  flowers,  as  he  darts 
rapidly  among  the  white  asters.  Unless  you  have  been  initiated, 
you  may  mistake  this  fly  for  a  bee.  He  sings  a  very  similar  song 
and  wears  a  similar  dress  ;  but  he  is  not  a  very  good  imitation, 
after  all,  and  a  little  familiarity  with  him  will  give  you  courage  to 
catch  him  in  your  hand  if  you  are  quick  enough,  for  he  is  incap- 
able of  stinging  or  biting :  he  can  merely  make  a  noise  out  of  all 
proportion  to  his  size.  He  is  simply  living  from  hour  to  hour, 
and  lays  up  no  store  for  the  winter,  enjoying  more  or  less  security 
from  his  resemblance  to  the  industrious  and  dangerous  insect 
which  he  imitates. 


Daisy  Fleabane;  Sweet  Scabious 

(Erigeron  annus)  Thistle  family 

Flower-heads — Numerous,  daisy-like,  about  Y?  in.  across  ;  from  40 
to  70  long,  fine,  white  rays  (or  purple-  or  pink-tinged),  ar- 
ranged around  yellow  disk  florets  in  a  rough,  hemispheric 
cup  whose  bracts  overlap.  Stem:  Erect,  i  to  4  ft.  high, 
branching  above,  with  spreading,  rough  hairs.  Leaves:  Thin, 
lower  ones  ovate,  coarsely  toothed,  petioled  ;  upper  ones  ses- 
sile, becoming  smaller,  lance-shaped. 

264 


White  and  Greenish 

Preferred  Habitat-—  Fields,  waste  land,  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — May — November. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Virginia,  westward  to  Missouri. 

At  a  glance  one  knows  this  flower  to  be  akin  to  Robin's  plan- 
tain (p.  75),  the  asters  and  daisy.  A  smaller,  more  delicate  spe- 
cies, with  mostly  entire  leaves  and  appressed  hairs  (E.  ramosus) 
— E.  strigosum  of  Gray — has  a  similar  range  and  season  of  bloom. 
Both  soon  grow  hoary-headed  after  they  have  been  fertilized  by 
countless  insects  crawling  over  them  (Erigeron  =  early  old).  That 
either  of  these  plants,  or  the  pinkish,  small-flowered,  strong- 
scented  Sak-marsh  Fleabane  (Pluchea  camphor  at  a),  drive  away 
fleas,  is  believed  only  by  those  who  have  not  used  them  dried, 
reduced  to  powder,  and  sprinkled  in  kennels,  from  which,  how- 
ever, they  have  been  known  to  drive  away  dogs. 


Groundsel-bush  or -tree;  Pencil-tree 

(Baccharis  halimifolia)  Thistle  family 

Flower-heads— White  or  yellowish  tubular  florets,  i  to  5  in  pedun- 
cled  clusters.  Staminate  and  pistillate  clusters  on  different 
shrubs  ;  the  former  almost  round  at  first,  the  latter  con- 
spicuous only  when  seeding  ;  then  their  pappus  is  white,  and 
about  YJ,  in.  long.  Stem :  A  smooth,  branching  shrub,  3  to 
10  ft.  high.  Leaves:  Thick,  lower  ones  ovate  to  wedge- 
shaped,  coarsely  angular-toothed  ;  upper  ones  smaller,  few- 
toothed  or  entire. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Salt  marshes,  tide- water  streams,  often  far  from 
the  coast. 

Flowering  Season — September — November. 

Distribution — The  Atlantic  and  Gulf  coasts  from  Maine  to  Texas. 

When  the  little  bright  white,  silky  cockades,  clustered  at  the 
ends  of  the  branches,  appear  on  a  female  groundsel-bush  in  autumn, 
our  eyes  are  attracted  to  the  shrub  for  the  first  time.  But  had  not 
small  pollen  carriers  discovered  it  weeks  before,  the  scaly,  glutin- 
ous cups  would  hold  no  charming,  plumed  seeds  ready  to  ride  on 
autumn  gales.  Self-fertilization  has  been  guarded  against  by  pre- 
carious means,  but  the  safest  of  all  devices— separation  of  the 
sexes  on  distinct  plants.  These  are  absolutely  dependent,  of 
course,  on  insect  messengers — not  visitors  merely.  Bees,  which 
always  show  less  inclination  to  dally  from  one  species  of  flower 
to  another  than  any  other  guests,  and  more  intelligent  directness 
of  purpose  when  put  for  business,  are  the  groundsel-bush's  truest 
benefactors.  This  is  the  only  shrub  among  the  multitudinous 
composite  clan  that  most  of  us  are  ever  likely  to  see. 

265 


White  and  Greenish 

Pearly,  or  Large-flowered,  Everlasting;  Im- 
mortelle; Silver  Leaf;  Moonshine;  Cotton- 
weed;  None-so-pretty 

(Anaphalis  margaritacea)  Thistle  family 
(Antennaria  margaritacea  of  Gray) 

Flower-heads — Numerous  pearly-white  scales  of  the  involucre 
holding  tubular  florets  only;  borne  in  broad,  rather  flat,  com- 
pound corymbs  at  the  summit.  Stem:  Cottony,  i  to  3  ft. 
high,  leafy  to  the  top.  Leaves :  Upper  ones  small,  narrow, 
linear  ;  lower  ones  broader,  lance-shaped,  rolled  backward, 
more  or  less  woolly  beneath. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Dry  fields,  hillsides,  open  woods,  uplands. 

Flowering  Season — July — September. 

Distribution — North  Carolina,  Kansas,  and  California,  far  north. 

When  the  small,  white,  overlapping  scales  of  an  everlasting's 
oblong  involucre  expand  stiff  and  straight,  each  pert  little  flower- 
head  resembles  nothing  so  much  as  a  miniature  pond  lily,  only 
what  would  be  a  lily's  yellow  stamens  are  in  this  case  the  true 
flowers,  which  become  brown  in  drying.  It  will  be  noticed 
that  these  tiny  florets,  so  well  protected  in  the  centre,  are  of 
two  different  kinds,  separated  on  distinct  heads  :  the  female 
florets  with  a  tubular,  five-cleft  corolla,  a  two-cleft  style,  and  a 
copious  pappus  of  hairy  bristles  ;  the  staminate,  or  male,  florets 
more  slender,  the  anthers  tailed  at  the  base.  Self-fertilization 
being,  of  course,  impossible  under  such  an  arrangement,  the 
florets  are  absolutely  dependent  upon  little  winged  pollen  carriers, 
whose  sweet  reward  is  well  protected  for  them  from  pilfering 
ants  by  the  cottony  substance  on  the  wiry  stem,  a  device  success- 
fully employed  by  thistles  also  (see  page  77). 

An  imaginary  blossom  that  never  fades  has  been  the  dream 
of  poets  from  Milton's  day;  but  seeing  one,  who  loves  it?  Our 
amaranth  has  the  aspect  of  an  artificial  flower — stiff,  dry,  soul- 
less, quite  in  keeping  with  the  decorations  on  the  average  farm- 
house mantelpiece.  Here  it  forms  the  most  uncheering  of  winter 
bouquets,  or  a  wreath  about  flowers  made  from  the  lifeless  hair 
of  some  dear  departed. 


In  open,  rocky  places,  moist  or  dry,  the  Clammy  Everlasting, 
Sweet  Balsam,  or  Winged  Cudweed  (Gnaphalium  decurrens)  pre- 
fers to  dwell.  A  wholesome  fragrance,  usually  mingled  with  that 
of  sweet  fern,  pervades  its  neighborhood.  Its  yellowish-white 
little  flower-heads  clustered  at  the  top  of  an  erect  stem,  and  its 

266 


White  and  Greenish 

pale  sage-green  leaves,  densely  woolly  beneath,  the  lower  ones 
seeming  to  run  along  the  stem,  need  no  further  description  : 
every  one  knows  the  common  everlasting.  Its  right  to  the  Greek 
generic  name,  meaning  a  lock  of  wool,  no  one  will  dispute. 
From  Pennsylvania  and  Arizona,  north  to  Nova  Scotia  and 
British  Columbia,  its  amaranthine  flowers  are  displayed  from  July 
to  September,  the  staminate  and  the  pistillate  heads  on  distinct 
plants.  Many  insect  visitors  approach  the  flowers;  some,  like 
the  bees,  are  working  for  them  in  transferring  pollen;  others, 
like  the  ants,  which  are  trying  to  steal  nectar,  usually  getting 
killed  on  the  sticky,  cottony  stem ;  and,  hovering  near,  ever  con- 
spicuous among  the  larger  visitors,  is  the  beautiful  hunter's 
butterfly  (Pyrameis  hunter  a),  to  be  distinguished  from  its  sister 
the  painted  lady,  always  seen  about  thistles,  by  the  two  large 
eye-like  spots  on  the  under  side  of  the  hind  wings.  What  are 
these  butterflies  doing  about  their  chosen  plants  ?  Certainly  the 
minute  florets  of  the  everlasting  offer  no  great  inducements  to  a 
creature  that  lives  only  on  nectar.  But  that  cocoon,  compactly 
woven  with  silk  and  petals,  which  hangs  from  the  stem,  tells  the 
story  of  the  hunter's  butterfly's  presence.  A  brownish-drab 
chrysalis,  or  a  slate-colored  and  black-banded  little  caterpillar  with 
tufts  of  hairs  on  its  back,  and  pretty  red  and  white  dots  on  the 
dark  stripes,  shows  our  butterfly  in  the  earlier  stages  of  its  exist- 
ence, when  the  everlastings  form  its  staple  diet. 


When  the  hepatica,  arbutus,  saxifrage,  and  adder's  tongue 
are  running  for  first  place  among  the  earliest  spring  flowers, 
another  modest  little  competitor  joins  the  race — the  Dwarf  Ever- 
lasting (Antennaria  plantagini folia),  also  known  as  Plantain- 
leaved,  Mouse-ear,  Spring  or  Early  Everlasting,  White  Plantain, 
Pussy-toes,  and  Ladies'  Tobacco.  From  March  tojune,  in  different 
parts  of  its  wide  range,  rocky  fields,  hillsides,  and  dry,  open 
woods  are  whitened  with  broad  patches  of  it,  formed  by  runners; 
the  fertile  plants  from  six  to  eighteen  inches  high;  the  male 
plants,  in  distinct  patches,  smaller  throughout.  At  the  base  the 
tufted  leaves,  which  are  green  on  the  upper  side,  but  silvery 
beneath,  often  woolly  when  young,  are  broadly  oval  or  spatulate, 
the  upper  leaves  oblong  to  lance-shaped,  seated  on  the  woolly 
stem.  Charming  little  rosettes  remain  all  winter,  ready  to  send 
up  the  first  flowers  displayed  by  the  vast  host  of  composites. 
Several  little  heads  of  fertile  florets,  resembling  tufts  of  silvery- 
white  silk,  are  set  in  pale-greenish  cups  in  a  broad  cluster  at 
the  top  of  the  stem  ;  the  staminate  florets  in  whiter  cups  with 
more  rounded  scales.  Small  bees,  chiefly  those  of  the  Andrena 
and  Halictus  tribe,  and  many  flies,  attend  to  transferring  pollen. 
Our  friend,  the  hunter's  butterfly,  also  hovers  near.  Range  from 
Labrador  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  westward  to  Nebraska. 

267 


White  and  Greenish 

Yarrow;  Milfoil;  Old  Man's  Pepper;  Nosebleed 

(Achillea  Millefolium)  Thistle  family 

Flower-heads — Grayish-white,  rarely  pinkish,  in  a  hard,  close,  flat- 
topped,  compound  cluster.  Ray  florets  4  to  6,  pistillate, 
fertile;  disk  florets  yellow,  afterward  brown,  perfect,  fertile. 
Stem :  Erect,  from  horizontal  rootstalk,  i  to  2  ft.  high,  leafy, 
sometimes  hairy.  Leaves:  Very  finely  dissected  (Mille- 
folium  =  thousand  leaf),  narrowly  oblong  in  outline. 

Preferred  Habitat — Waste  land,  dry  fields,  banks,  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — June — November. 

Distribution — Naturalized  from  Europe  and  Asia  throughout  North 
America. 

Everywhere  this  commonest  of  common  weeds  confronts 
us;  the  compact,  dusty-looking  clusters  appearing  not  by  way- 
sides only,  around  the  world,  but  in  the  mythology,  folk  lore, 
medicine,  and  literature  of  many  peoples.  Chiron,  the  centaur, 
who  taught  its  virtues  to  Achilles  that  he  might  make  an  oint- 
ment to  heal  his  Myrmidons  wounded  in  the  siege  of  Troy, 
named  the  plant  for  this  favorite  pupil,  giving  his  own  to  the 
beautiful  blue  corn-flower  (Centaurea  Cyanus).  As  a  love-charm ; 
as  an  herb-tea  brewed  by  crones  to  cure  divers  ailments,  from 
loss  of  hair  to  the  ague;  as  an  inducement  to  nosebleed  for  the 
relief  of  congestive  headache;  as  an  ingredient  of  an  especially 
intoxicating  beer  made  by  the  Swedes,  it  is  mentioned  in  old 
books.  Nowadays  we  are  satisfied  merely  to  admire  the  feathery 
masses  of  lace-like  foliage  formed  by  young  plants,  to  whiff  the 
wholesome,  nutty,  autumnal  odor  of  its  flowers,  or  to  wonder 
at  the  marvellous  scheme  it  employs  to  overrun  the  earth. 

Like  the  daisy,  each  small  flower  in  a  cluster,  as  symmetrically 
arranged  as  brain  coral,  is  made  up  of  a  large  number  of  minute 
but  perfect  florets,  suited  to  attract  insects  by  making  a  better 
show  than  each  could  do  alone,  and  by  offering  them  accessible 
feeding  places  close  together,  where  they  may  feast  with  mini- 
mum loss  of  time.  Simultaneous  cross-fertilization  of  many 
florets  must  be  effected  by  every  visitor  crawling  over  a  cluster. 
The  florets  in  each  disk  open  in  regular  array  toward  the  centre. 
At  the  expense  of  stamens,  which  are  absent  in  the  grayish- 
white  ray  florets,  they  have  attained  their  development,  another 
instance  of  "progress  by  loss"  from  the  evolutionary  standpoint. 
By  prolonging  its  season  of  bloom  to  get  relief  from  the  fierce  com- 
petition for  insect  visitors  in  midsummer ;  by  increase  through 
seeds,  and  runners  too ;  by  contenting  itself  with  neglected 
corners  of  the  earth,  the  yarrow  gives  us  many  valuable  lessons 
on  how  to  succeed. 

268 


White  and  Greenish 

Dog's  or  Fetid  Camomile;   Mayweed;    Pig-sty 
Daisy;  Dillweed ;  Dog-fennel 

(Anthemis  Cotula}  Thistle  family 
(Maruta  Cotula  of  Gray) 

Flower-heads — Like  smaller  daisies,  about  i  in.  broad;  10  to  18 
white,  notched,  neutral  ray  florets  around  a  convex  or 
conical  yellow  disk,  whose  florets  are  fertile,  containing  both 
stamens  and  pistil,  their  tubular  corollas  5-cleft.  Stem: 
Smooth,  much  branched,  i  to  2  ft.  high,  leafy,  with  un- 
pleasant odor  and  acrid  taste.  Leaves:  Very  finely  dissected 
into  slender  segments. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Roadsides,  dry  waste  land,  sandy  fields. 

Flowering  Season — J une — November. 

Distribution — Throughout  North  America,  except  in  circumpolar 
regions. 

"  Naturalized  from  Europe,  and  widely  distributed  as  a  weed 
in  Asia,  Africa,  and  Australasia"  (Britton  and  Brown's  "Flora"). 
Little  wonder  the  camomile  encompasses  the  earth,  for  it  imitates 
the  triumphant  daisy,  putting  into  practice  those  business  methods 
of  the  modern  department  store,  by  which  the  composite  horde 
have  become  the  most  successful  strugglers  for  survival. 

The  unpleasant  odor  given  forth  by  this  bushy  little  plant 
repels  bees  and  other  highly  organized  insects;  not  so  flies, 
which,  far  from  objecting  to  a  fetid  smell,  are  rather  attracted  by 
it.  They  visit  the  camomile  in  such  numbers  as  to  be  the  chief 
fertilizers.  As  the  development  of  bloom  proceeds  toward  the 
centre,  the  disk  becomes  conical,  to  present  the  newly  opened 
florets,  where  a  fly  alighting  on  it  must  receive  pollen,  to  be  trans- 
ferred as  he  crawls  and  flies  to  another  head.  After  fertilization 
the  white  rays  droop.  Dog,  used  as  a  prefix  by  several  of  the 
plant's  folk  names,  implies  contempt  for  its  worthlessness.  It  is 
quite  another  species,  the  Garden  Camomile  (A,  nobilis),  which 
furnishes  the  apothecary  with  those  flowers  which,  when  steeped 
into  a  bitter  aromatic  tea,  have  been  supposed  for  generations  to 
make  a  superior  tonic  and  blood  purifier. 


Not  so  common  a  plant  here,  but  almost  as  widespread  as 
the  preceding  species,  is  the  similar,  but  not  fetid,  Corn  or  Field 
Camomile  (A.  arvensis),  a  pest  to  European  farmers.  Both  are 
closely  related  to  the  garden  Feverfew,  Featherfew,  or  Pellitory 
(Chrysanthemum  Parthenium],  which  escapes  from  cultivation 
whenever  it  can  into  waste  fields  and  roadsides. 

269 


White  and  Greenish 

Common   Daisy;  White-weed;   White  or  Ox- 
eye  Daisy;  Love-me,  Love-me-not 

(Chrysanthemum  Leucanthemum)  Thistle  family 

Flower-heads — Disk  florets  yellow,  tubular,  4  or  5  toothed,  con- 
taining stamens  and  pistil ;  surrounded  by  white  ray  florets, 
which  are  pistillate,  fertile.  Stem :  Smooth,  rarely  branched, 
i  to  3  ft.  high.  Leaves ;  Mostly  oblong  in  outline,  coarsely 
toothed  and  divided. 

Preferred  Habitat — Meadows,  pastures,  roadsides,  waste  land. 

Flowering  Season — May — November. 

Distribution — Throughout  the  United  States  and  Canada  ;  not 
so  common  in  the  South  and  West. 

Myriads  and  myriads  of  daisies,  whitening  our  fields  as  if  a 
belated  blizzard  had  covered  them  with  a  snowy  mantle  in  June, 
fill  the  farmer  with  dismay,  the  flower-lover  with  rapture.  When 
vacation  days  have  come ;  when  chains  and  white-capped  old 
women  are  to  be  made  of  daisies  by  happy  children  turned  out  of 
schoolrooms  into  meadows  ;  when  pretty  maids,  like  Goethe's 
Marguerite,  tell  their  fortunes  by  the  daisy  "  petals  ;  "  when  music 
bubbles  up  in  a  cascade  of  ecstasy  from  the  throats  of  bobolinks 
nesting  among  the  daisies,  timothy,  and  clover  ;  when  the  blue 
sky  arches  over  the  fairest  scenes  the  year  can  show,  and  all  the 
world  is  full  of  sunshine  and  happy  promises  of  fruition,  must  we 
Americans  always  go  to  English  literature  for  a  song  to  fit  our 
joyous  mood  ? 

"  When  daisies  pied,  and  violets  blue, 
And  lady-smocks  all  silver  white, 
And  cuckoo-buds  of  yellow  hue. 

Do  paint  the  meadows  with  delight — " 

sang  Shakespeare.  His  lovely  suggestion  of  an  English  spring 
recalls  no  familiar  picture  to  Amencan  minds.  No  more  does 
Burns's 

"  Wee,  modest,  crimson-tippit  flower." 

Shakespeare,  Burns,  Chaucer,  Wordsworth,  and  all  the  British 
poets  who  have  written  familiar  lines  about  the  daisy,  extolled  a 
quite  different  flower  from  ours — Bellis  perenms,  the  little  pink 
and  white  blossom  that  hugs  English  turf  as  if  it  loved  it — the 
true  day's-eye,  for  it  closes  at  nightfall  and  opens  with  the  dawn. 
Now,  what  is  the  secret  of  the  large,  white  daisy's  triumphal 
conquest  of  our  territory  ?  A  naturalized  immigrant  from  Europe 
and  Asia,  how  could  it  so  quickly  take  possession  ?  In  the  over- 
cultivated  Old  World  no  weed  can  have  half  the  chance  for  unre- 
stricted colonizing  that  it  has  in  our  vast  unoccupied  area.  Most 

270 


White  and  Greenish 

of  our  weeds  are  naturalized  foreigners,  not  natives.  Once  released 
from  the  harder  conditions  of  struggle  at  home  (the  seeds  being 
safely  smuggled  in  among  the  ballast  of  freight  ships,  or  hay  used 
in  packing),  they  find  life  here  easy,  pleasant ;  as  if  to  make  up 
for  lost  time,  they  increase  a  thousandfold.  If  we  look  closely  at 
a  daisy — and  a  lens  is  necessary  for  any  but  the  most  superficial 
acquaintance — we  shall  see  that,  far  from  being  a  single  flower,  it 
is  literally  a  host  in  itself.  Each  of  the  so-called  white  "petals" 
is  a  female  floret,  whose  open  corolla  has  grown  large,  white, 
and  showy,  to  aid  its  sisters  in  advertising  for  insect  visitors — a 
prominence  gained  only  by  the  loss  of  its  stamens.  The  ^yellow 
centre  is  composed  of  hundreds  of  minute  tubular  florets  huddled 
together  in  a  green  cup  as  closely  as  they  can  be  packed.  Inside 
each  of  these  tiny  yellow  tubes  stand  the  stamens,  literally  putting 
their  heads  together.  As  the  pistil  within  the  ring  of  stamens 
develops  and  rises  through  their  midst,  two  little  hair  brushes 
on  its  tip  sweep  the  pollen  from  their  anthers  as  a  rounded  brush 
would  remove  the  soot  from  a  lamp  chimney.  Now  the  pollen 
is  elevated  to  a  point  where  any  insect  crawling  over  the  floret 
must  remove  it.  The  pollen  gone,  the  pistil  now  spreads  its  two 
arms,  that  were  kept  tightly  closed  together  while  any  danger  of 
self-fertilization  lasted.  Their  surfaces  become  sticky,  that  pollen 
brought  from  another  flower  may  adhere  to  them.  Notice  that  the 
pistils  in  the  white  ray  florets  have  no  hair  brushes  on  their  tips, 
because,  no  stamens  being  there,  there  is  no  pollen  to  be  swept 
out.  Because  daisies  are  among  the  most  conspicuous  of  flowers, 
and  have  facilitated  dining  for  their  visitors  by  offering  them  count- 
less cups  of  refreshment  that  may  be  drained  with  a  minimum  loss 
of  time,  almost  every  insect  on  wings  alights  on  them  sooner  or 
later.  In  short,  they  run  their  business  on  the  principle  of  a 
cooperative  department  store.  Immense  quantities  of  the  most 
vigorous,  because  cross-fertilized,  seed  being  set  in  every  patch, 
small  wonder  that  our  fields  are  white  with  daisies — a  long  and  a 
merry  life  to  them  ! 


Since  all  flowers  must  once  have  passed  through  a  white  stage  before 
attaining  gay  colors,  so  evolution  teaches,  it  is  not  surprising  that  occa- 
sional reversions  to  the  white  type  should  be  found  even  among  the 
brightest-hued  species .  Again,  some  white  flowers  which  are  in  a  transi- 
tion state  show  aspirations  after  color,  often  so  marked  in  individuals  as 
to  mislead  one  into  believing  them  products  of  a  far  advanced  colored 
type.  Also,  pale  colors  blanch  under  a  summer  sun.  These  facts  must 
be  borne  in  mind,  and  the  blue,  pink,  and  yellow  blossoms  should  be  inves- 
tigated before  the  reader  despairs  of  identifying  a  flower  not  found  in  the 
white  group. 

271 


YELLOW  AND  ORANGE  FLOWERS 


"All  variations  which  render  the  blossoms  more  attractive,  either  by 
scent,  colour,  size  of  corolla,  or  quantity  of  nectar,  make  the  insect  visit 
more  sure,  and  therefore  the  production  of  seed  more  likely.  Thus,  the 
conspicuous  blossoms  secure  descendants  which  inherit  the  special  varia- 
tions of  their  parents,  and  so,  generation  after  generation,  we  have  selec- 
tions in  favour  of  conspicuous  flowers,  where  insects  are  at  work.  Their 
appreciation  of  colour,  because  it  has  brought  the  blossom  possessing  it  more 
immediately  into  their  view,  and  more  surely  under  their  attention,  has 
enabled  them,  through  the  ages,  to  be  preparing  the  specimens  upon  which 
man  now  operates  ;  he  taking  up  the  work  where  they  have  left  it,  select- 
ing, inoculating,  and  hybridizing,  according  to  his  own  rules  of  taste,  and 
developing  a  beauty  which  insects  alone  could  never  have  evolved.  His 
are  the  finishing  touches,  his  the  apparent  effects ;  yet  no  less  is  it  true, 
that  the  results  of  his  floriculture  would  never  have  been  attainable  with- 
out insect  helpers.  It  is  equally  certain,  that  the  beautiful  perfume,  and 
the  nectar  also,  are,  in  their  present  development,  the  outcome  of  repeated 
insect  selection ;  and  here,  it  seems  to  me,  we  get  an  inkling  of  a  deep 
mystery :  Why  is  life,  in  all  its  forms,  so  dependent  upon  the  fusion  of  two 
individual  elements  ?  Is  it  not,  that  thus  the  door  of  progress  has  been 
opened?  If  each  alone  had  reproduced,  itself  all-in-all,  advance  would 
have  been  impossible ;  the  insect  and  human  florists  and  pomologists,  like 
the  improvers  of  animal  races,  would  have  had  no  platform  for  their 
operation,  and  not  only  the  forms  of  life,  but  life  itself  would  have  been 
stereotyped  unalterably,  ever  mechanically  giving  repetition  to  identical 
phenomena" — FRANK  R.  CHESHIRE  in  "  Bees  and  Bee-keeping." 
18 


273 


YELLOW  AND  ORANGE  FLOWERS 

Golden  Club 

(Orontium  aquaticum)  Arum  family 

Flowers — Bright  yellow,  minute,  perfect,  crowded  on  a  spadix 
(club)  i  to  2  in.  long;  the  scape,  6  in.  to  2  ft.  tall,  flattened 
just  below  it;  the  club  much  thickened  in  fruit.  Leaves: 
All  from  root,  petioled,  oblong-elliptic,  dull  green  above,  pale 
underneath,  5  to  12  in.  long,  floating  or  erect. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Shallow  ponds,  standing  water,  swamps. 

Flowering  Season — April — May. 

Distribution — New  England  to  the  Gulf  States,  mostly  near  the 
coast. 

A  first  cousin  of  cruel  Jack-in-the-pulpit,  the  skunk  cabbage, 
and  the  water-arum  (see  page  155),  a  poor  relation  also  of  the 
calla  lily,  the  golden  club  seems  to  be  denied  part  of  its  tribal 
inheritance — the  spathe,  corresponding  to  the  pulpit  in  which 
Jack  preaches,  or  to  the  lily's  showy  white  skirt.  In  the  tropics, 
where  the  lily  grows,  where  insect  life  teems  in  myriads  and 
myriads,  and  competition  among  the  flowers  for  their  visits  is 
infinitely  more  keen  than  here,  she  has  greater  need  to  flaunt 
showy  clothes  to  attract  benefactors  than  her  northern  relatives. 
But  the  golden  club,  which  looks  something  like  a  calla  stripped 
of  her  lovely  white  robe,  has  not  lacked  protection  for  its  little 
buds  from  the  cold  spring  winds  while  any  was  needed.  By  the 
time  we  notice  the  plant  in  bloom,  however,  its  bract-like  spathe 
has  usually  fallen  away,  as  if  conscious  that  the  pretty  mosaic 
club  of  golden  florets,  so  attractive  in  itself,  was  quite  able  to 
draw  all  the  visitors  needed  without  further  help.  Merely  by 
crawling  over  the  clubs,  flies  and  midges  cross-fertilize  them. 


Perfoliate  Bellwort;  Straw  Bell 

(Uvularia  perfoliata)  Bunch-flower  family 

flowers — Fragrant,  pale  yellow,  about  i  in.  long,  drooping  singly 
(rarely  2)  from  tips  of  branches;  perianth  narrow,  bell- 

275 


Yellow  and  Orange 

shaped,  of  6  petal-like  segments,  rough  within,  spreading  at 
the  tip ;  6  stamens ;  3  styles  united  to  the  middle.  Stem :  6 
to  20  in.  high,  smooth,  shining,  forking  about  half  way. 
Leaves :  Apparently  strung  on  the  slender  stem,  oval,  taper- 
ing at  tip. 

Preferred  ffa&t/at—Moist,  rich  woods ;  thickets. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution — Quebec  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  west  to  Mississippi. 

Hanging  like  a  palate  (uvula)  from  the  roof  of  a  mouth, 
according  to  imaginative  Linnaeus,  the  little  bellwort  droops,  and 
so  modestly  hides  behind  the  leaf  its  footstalk  pierces  that  the 
eye  often  fails  to  find  it  when  so  many  more  showy  blossoms 
arrest  attention  in  the  May  woods.  Slight  fragrance  helps  to 
guide  the  keen  bumblebee  to  the  pale  yellow  bell.  The  tips 
spreading  apart  very  little  and  the  flower  being  pendent,  how  is 
she  to  reach  the  nectar  secreted  at  the  base  of  each  of  its  six 
divisions  ?  Is  it  not  more  than  probable  that  the  inner  surface  is 
rough,  as  if  dusted  with  yellow  meal,  to  provide  a  foothold  for 
her  as  she  clings?  Now  securely  hanging  from  within  the 
inhospitable  flower,  her  long  tongue  can  easily  drain  the  sweets, 
and  in  doing  so  she  will  receive  pollen,  to  be  deposited,  in  all 
probability,  on  the  stigmatic  style  branches  of  the  next  bellwort 
entered.  (Illustration,  p.  280.) 


With  a  more  westerly  range  than  the  perfoliate  species,  the 
similar  Large-flowered  Bellwort  (U.  grandiflord)  grows  in  like 
situations.  Its  greenish  lemon-yellow  flowers,  an  inch  to  an 
inch  and  a  half  long,  appear  from  April  to  May,  or  when  the 
female  bumblebees,  that  fly  before  their  lords,  are  the  only  insects 
large  and  strong  enough  to  force  an  entrance.  Mr.  Trelease,  who 
noted  them  on  the  flowers  near  Madison,  Wisconsin,  saw  that 
one  laden  with  pollen  from  another  blossom  came  in  contact  with 
the  three  sticky  branches  of  the  style,  protruding  between  the 
anthers,  when  she  crawled  between  the  anthers  and  sepals,  as 
she  must,  to  reach  the  nectar  secreted  at  the  base.  But  the  linear 
anthers  shedding  their  pollen  longitudinally,  there  is  a  chance 
that  the  flower  may  fertilize  itself  should  no  bee  arrive  before  a 
certain  point  is  reached. 


The  Sessile-leaved  Bellwort,  or  Wild  Oat  (U.  sessifolia),  as 
its  name  implies,  has  its  thin,  pale  green  leaves  tapering  at  either 
end,  seated  on  the  stem,  not  surrounding  it,  or  apparently  strung 
on  it.  The  smaller  flower  is  cream  colored.  A  sharply  three- 
angled  capsule  about  an  inch  long  follows.  Range  from  Minne- 
sota and  Arkansas  to  the  Atlantic. 

276 


WILD  YELLOW  OR  CANADIAN  LILY. 
(Lilium  Canadense.) 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Wild  Yellow,  Meadow  or  Field  Lily;  Canada 

Lily 

(Lilium  Canadense)  Lily  family 

Flowers — Yellow  to  orange-red,  of  a  deeper  shade  within,  and 
speckled  with  dark  reddish-brown  dots.  One  or  several  (rarely 
many)  nodding  on  long  peduncles  from  the  summit.  Perianth 
bell-shaped,  of  6  spreading  segments  2  to  3  in.  long,  their 
tips  curved  backward  to  the  middle;  6  stamens,  with  reddish- 
brown  linear  anthers;  i  pistil,  club-shaped;  the  stigma  3- 
lobed.  Stem :  2  to  5  ft.  tall,  leafy,  from  a  bulbous  rootstock 
composed  of  numerous  fleshy  white  scales.  Leaves:  Lance- 
shaped,  to  oblong;  usually  in  whorls  of  fours  to  tens,  or  some 
alternate.  Fruit:  An  erect,  oblong,  3-celled  capsule,  the 
flat,  horizontal  seeds  packed  in  2  rows  in  each  cavity. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Swamps,  low  meadows,  moist  fields. 

Flowering  Season — J  u  n  e — j  U  ly . 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Georgia,  westward  beyond  the  Mis- 
sissippi. 

Not  our  gorgeous  lilies  that  brighten  the  low-lying  meadows 
in  early  summer  with  pendent,  swaying  bells;  possibly  not  a  true 
lily  at  all  was  chosen  to  illustrate  the  truth  which  those  who 
listened  to  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  we,  equally  anxious, 
foolishly  overburdened  folk  of  to-day,  so  little  comprehend. 

"  Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how  they  grow  ;  they  toil  not,  neither  do  they 
spin  : 

"And  yet  I  say  unto  you,  That  even  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed 
like  one  of  these." 

Opinions  differ  as  to  the  lily  of  Scripture.  Eastern  peoples  use 
the  same  word  interchangeably  for  the  tulip,  anemone,  ranunculus, 
iris,  the  water-lilies,  and  those  of  the  field.  The  superb  scarlet 
martagon  lily  (L.  chalcedonicum),  grown  in  gardens  here,  is  not 
uncommon  wild  in  Palestine  ;  but  whoever  has  seen  the  large 
anemones  there  "carpeting  every  plain  and  luxuriantly  pervading 
the  land"  is  inclined  to  believe  that  Jesus,  who  always  chose  the 
most  familiar  objects  in  the  daily  life  of  His  simple  listeners  to 
illustrate  His  teachings,  rested  His  eyes  on  the  slopes  about  Him 
glowing  with  anemones  in  all  their  matchless  loveliness.  What 
flower  served  Him  then  matters  not  at  all.  It  is  enough  that 
scientists — now  more  plainly  than  ever  before — see  the  universal 
application  of  the  illustration  the  more  deeply  they  study  nature, 
and  can  include  their  "  little  brothers  of  the  air  "  and  the  humblest 
flower  at  their  feet  when  they  say  with  Paul,  "In  God  we  live 
and  move  and  have  our  being." 

277 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Tallest  and  most  prolific  of  bloom  among  our  native  lilies,  as 
it  is  the  most  variable  in  color,  size,  and  form,  the  Turk's  Cap,  or 
Turban  Lily  (L.  superbum),  sometimes  nearly  merges  its  identity 
into  its  Canadian  sister's.  Travellers  by  rail  between  New  York 
and  Boston  know  how  gorgeous  are  the  low  meadows  and 
marshes  in  July  or  August,  when  its  clusters  of  deep  yellow, 
orange,  or  flame-colored  lilies  tower  above  the  surrounding 
vegetation.  Like  the  color  of  most  flowers,  theirs  intensifies  in 
salt  air.  Commonly  from  three  to  seven  lilies  appear  in  a  ter- 
minal gioup;  but  under  skilful  cultivation  even  forty  will  crown 
the  stalk  that  reaches  a  height  of  nine  feet  where  its  home  suits 
it  perfectly;  or  maybe  only  a  poor  array  of  dingy  yellowish  caps 
top  a  shrivelled  stem  when  unfavorable  conditions  prevail.  There 
certainly  are  times  when  its  specific  name  seems  extravagant. 

Its  range  is  from  Maine  to  the  Carolinas,  westward  to  Minne- 
sota and  Tennessee.  A  well-conducted  Turk's  cap  is  not  bell- 
shaped  at  maturity,  like  the  Canada  lily:  it  should  open  much 
farther,  until  the  six  points  of  its  perianth  curve  so  far  backward 
beyond  the  middle  as  to  expose  the  stamens  for  nearly  their 
entire  length.  One  of  the  purple-dotted  divisions  of  the  flower 
when  spread  out  flat  may  measure  anywhere  from  two  and  a  half 
to  four  inches  in  length.  Smooth,  lance-shaped  leaves,  tapering 
at  both  ends,  occur  in  whorls  of  threes  to  eights  up  the  stem,  or 
the  upper  ones  may  be  alternate.  Abundant  food,  hidden  in  a 
round,  white-shingled  storehouse  under  ground,  nourishes  the 
plant,  and  similarly  its  bulb-bearing  kin,  when  emergency  may 
require — a  thrifty  arrangement  that  serves  them  in  good  stead 
during  prolonged  drought  and  severe  winters. 

Why,  one  may  ask,  are  some  lilies  radiantly  colored  and 
speckled;  others,  like  the  Easter  lily,  deep  chaliced,  white,  spot- 
less ?  Now,  in  all  our  lily  kin  nectar  is  secreted  in  a  groove  at 
the  base  of  each  of  the  six  divisions  of  the  flower,  and  upon  its 
removal  by  that  insect  best  adapted  to  come  in  contact  with 
anthers  and  stigma  as  it  flies  from  lily  to  lily  depends  all  hope  of 
perpetuating  the  lovely  race.  For  countless  ages  it  has  been  the 
flowers  business  to  find  what  best  pleased  the  visitors  on  whom 
so  much  depended.  Some  lilies  decided  to  woo  one  class  of 
insects;  some,  another.  Those  which  literally  set  their  caps  for 
color-loving  bees  and  butterflies  whose  long  tongues  could  easily 
drain  nectar  deeply  hidden  from  the  mob  for  their  special  benefit, 
assumed  gay  hues,  speckling  the  inner  side  of  their  spreading 
divisions,  even  providing  lines  as  pathfinders  to  their  nectaries  in 
some  cases,  lest  a  visitor  try  to  thrust  in  his  tongue  between  the 
petal-like  parts  while  standing  on  the  outside,  and  so  defeat  their 
well-laid  plan.  It  is  almost  pathetic  to  see  how  bright  and 
spotted  they  are  inside,  that  the  visitor  may  not  go  astray.  Thus 
we  find  the  chief  pollenizers  of  the  Canada  and  the  Turk's  cap 
lilies  to  be  specialized  bees,  the  interesting  upholsterers,  or  leaf- 

278 


TURK'S-CAP    LILY 
(Lilium  superbum) 


Yellow  and  Orange 

cutters,  conspicuous  among  the  throng.  Nectar  they  want,  of 
course;  but  the  dark,  rich  pollen  is  needed  also  to  mix  with  it  for 
the  food  supply  of  a  generation  still  unborn.  Any  one  who  has 
smelled  a  lily  knows  how  his  nose  looks  afterward.  The  bees 
have  no  difficulty  whatever  in  removing  lily  pollen  and  trans- 
ferring it.  So  much  for  the  colored  lilies. 

The  long,  white,  trumpet-shape  type  of  lily  chooses  for  her 
lover  the  sphinx  moth.  For  him  she  wears  a  spotless  white  robe — 
speckles  would  be  superfluous — that  he  may  see  it  shine  in  the 
dusk,  when  colored  flowers  melt  into  the  prevailing  blackness; 
for  him  she  breathes  forth  a  fragrance  almost  overwhelming  at 
evening,  to  guide  him  to  her  neighborhood  from  afar;  in  con- 
sideration of  his  very  long,  slender  tongue  she  hides  her  sweets 
so  deep  that  none  may  rob  him  of  it,  taking  the  additional  pre- 
caution to  weld  her  six  once  separate  parts  together  into  a  solid 
tube  lest  any  pilferer  thrust  in  his  tongue  from  the  side. 

The  common  orange-tan  Day  Lily  (HemerocalliS  fulva)  and 
the  commoner  speckled,  orange-red  Tiger  Lily  (L.  tigrinum)  are 
not  slow  in  seizing  opportunities  to  escape  from  gardens  into 
roadsides  and  fence  corners. 


Yellow  Adder's  Tongue;  Trout  Lily;  Dog-tooth 
"Violet" 

(Erythronium  Americanum)  Lily  family 

Flower — Solitary,  pale  russet  yellow,  rarely  tinged  with  purple, 
slightly  fragrant,  I  to  2  in.  long,  nodding  from  the  summit  of 
a  footstalk  6  to  12  in.  high,  or  about  as  tall  as  the  leaves. 
Perianth  bell-shaped,  of  6  petal-like,  distinct  segments,  spread- 
ing at  tips,  dark  spotted  within;  6  stamens;  the  club-shaped 
style  with  3  short,  stigmatic  ridges.  Leaves :  2,  unequal, 
grayish  green,  mottled  and  streaked  with  brown  or  all  green, 
oblong,  ^  to  8  in.  long,  narrowing  into  clasping  petioles. 

Preferred  ffafa'tat—Mo'ist  open  woods  and  thickets,  brooksides. 

Flowering  Season — March — May. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Florida,  westward  to  the  Mississippi. 

Colonies  of  these  dainty  little  lilies,  that  so  often  grow  beside 
leaping  brooks  where  and  when  the  trout  hide,  justify  at  least 
one  of  their  names  ;  but  they  have  nothing  in  common  with  the 
violet  or  a  dog's  tooth.  Their  faint  fragrance  rather  suggests  a 
tulip;  and  as  for  the  bulb,  which  in  some  of  the  lily-kin  has  tooth- 
like  scales,  it  is  in  this  case  a  smooth,  egg-shaped  corm,  produc- 
ing little  round  offsets  from  its  base.  Much  fault  is  also  found 
with  another  name  on  the  plea  that  the  curiously  mottled  and 

279 


Yellow  and  Orange 

delicately  pencilled  leaves  bring  to  mind,  not  a  snake's  tongue, 
but  its  skin,  as  they  surely  do.  Whoever  sees  the  sharp  purplish 
point  of  a  young  plant  darting  above  ground  in  earliest  spring, 
however,  at  once  sees  the  fitting  application  of  adder's  tongue.  But 
how  few  recognize  their  plant  friends  at  all  seasons  of  the  year! 

Every  one  must  have  noticed  the  abundance  of  low-growing 
spring  flowers  in  deciduous  woodlands,  where,  later  in  the  year, 
after  the  leaves  overhead  cast  a  heavy  shade,  so  few  blossoms 
are  to  be  found,  because  their  light  is  seriously  diminished.  The 
thrifty  adder's  tongue,  by  laying  up  nourishment  in  its  store- 
room underground  through  the  winter,  is  ready  to  send  its  leaves 
and  flower  upward  to  take  advantage  of  the  sunlight  the  still 
naked  trees  do  not  intercept,  just  as  soon  as  the  ground  thaws. 
But  the  spring  beauty,  the  rue-anemone,  bloodroot,  toothwort, 
and  the  first  blue  violet  (palmata)  among  other  early  spring 
flowers,  have  not  been  slow  to  take  advantage  of  the  light  either. 
Fierce  competition,  therefore,  rages  among  them  to  secure  visits 
from  the  comparatively  few  insects  then  flying — a  competition  so 
severe  that  the  adder's  tongue  often  has  to  wait  until  afternoon 
for  the  spring  beauty  to  close  before  receiving  a  single  caller. 
Hive-bees,  and  others  only  about  half  their  size,  of  the  Andrena 
and  Halictus  clans,  the  first  to  fly,  the  Bombylius  frauds,  and 
common  yellow  butterflies,  come  in  numbers  then.  Guided  by 
the  speckles  to  the  nectaries  at  the  base  of  the  flower,  they  must 
either  cling  to  the  stamens  and  style  while  they  suck,  or  fall  out. 
Thus  cross-fertilization  is  commonly  effected ;  but  in  the  absence 
of  insects  the  lily  can  fertilize  itself.  Crawling  pilferers  rarely  think 
it  worth  while  to  slip  and  slide  up  the  smooth  footstalk  and  risk 
a  tumble  where  it  curves  to  allow  the  flower  to  nod — the  reason 
why  this  habit  of  growth  is  so  popular.  The  adder's  tongue,  which 
is  extremely  sensitive  to  the  sunlight,  will  turn  on  its  stalk  to  follow 
it,  and  expand  in  its  warmth.  At  night  it  nearly  closes. 

A  similar  adder's  tongue,  bearing  a  white  flower,  purplish 
tinged  on  the  outside,  yellow  at  the  base  within  to  guide  insects 
to  the  nectaries,  is  the  White  Adder's  Tongue  (E.  albidum),  rare 
in  the  Eastern  States,  but  quite  common  westward  as  far  as  Texas 
and  Minnesota. 


Yellow  Clintonia 

(Clintonia  borealis)  Lily-of-the-valley  family 

Flowers — Straw  color  or  greenish  yellow,  less  than  i  in.  long,  3  to 

6  nodding  on  slender  pedicels  from  the  summit  of  a  leafless 

scape  6  to  1 5  in.  tall.     Perianth  of  6  spreading  divisions,  the 

6  stamens  attached  ;  style,  3-lobed.     Leaves :  Dark,  glossy, 

280 


Yellow  and  Orange 

large,  oval  to  oblong,  2  to  5  (usually  3),  sheathing  at  the  base. 

Fruit :  Oval  blue  berries  on  upright  pedicels. 
Preferred  Habitat — Moist,  rich,  cool  woods  and  thickets. 
Flowering  Season — May — June. 
Distribtttion — From  the  Carolinas  and  Wisconsin  far  northward. 

To  name  canals,  bridges,  city  thoroughfares,  booming  factory 
towns  after  De  Witt  Clinton  seems  to  many  appropriate  enough; 
but  why  a  shy  little  woodland  flower  ?  As  fitly  might  a  wee 
white  violet  carry  down  the  name  of  Theodore  Roosevelt  to  pos- 
terity !  "Gray  should  not  have  named  the  flower  from  the 
Governor  of  New  York,"  complains  Thoreau.  "What  is  he  to 
the  lovers  of  flowers  in  Massachusetts?  If  named  after  a  man,  it 
must  be  a  man  of  flowers."  So  completely  has  Clinton,  the  prac- 
tical man  of  affairs,  obliterated  Clinton,  the  naturalist,  from  the 
popular  mind,  that,  were  it  not  for  this  plant  keeping  his  memory 
green,  we  should  be  in  danger  of  forgetting  the  weary,  overworked 
governor,  fleeing  from  care  to  the  woods  and  fields  ;  pursuing  in 
the  open  air  the  study  which  above  all  others  delighted  and  re- 
freshed him ;  revealing  in  every  leisure  moment  a  too-often  for- 
gotten side  of  his  many-sided  greatness. 


Indian  Cucumber-root 

(Medeola  Virginia-no)  Lily-of-the-valley  family 

Flowers — Greenish  yellow,  on  fine,  curving  footstalks,  in  a  loose 
cluster  above  a  circle  of  leaves.  Perianth  of  6  wide-spread 
divisions  about  X  in-  l°ng>  6  reddish-brown  stamens;  3  long 
reddish-brown  styles,  stigmatic  on  inner  side.  Stem:  \  to 
2^  ft.  high,  unbranched,  cottony  when  young.  Leaves:  Of 
flowering  plants,  in  2  whorls  ;  lower  whorl  of  5  to  9  large, 
thin,  oblong,  taper-pointed  leaves  above  the  middle  of  stem; 
upper  whorl  of  3  to  5  small,  oval,  pointed  leaves  i  to  2  in. 
long,  immediately  under  flowers.  Flowerless  plants  with  a 
whorl  at  summit.  Fruit:  Round,  dark-purple  berries. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Moist  woods  and  thickets. 

Flowering  Season — May— June. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  and  Minnesota,  southward  nearly  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico. 

Again  we  see  the  leaves  of  a  plant  coming  to  the  aid  of  other- 
wise inconspicuous  flowers  to  render  them  more  attractive.  By 
placing  themselves  in  a  circle  just  below  these  little  spidery  blos- 
soms of  weak  and  uncertain  coloring,  some  of  the  Indian  cucum- 
ber's leaves  certainly  make  them  at  least  noticeable,  if  not  showy. 
It  would  be  short-sighted  philanthropy  on  the  leaves'  part  to  help 

281 


Yellow  and  Orange 

the  flowers  win  insect  wooers  at  the  expense  of  the  plant's  gen- 
eral health  ;  therefore  those  in  the  upper  whorl  are  fewer  and 
much  smaller  than  the  leaves  in  the  lower  circle,  and  a  sufficient 
length  of  stem  separates  them  to  allow  the  sunlight  and  rain  to 
conjure  with  the  chlorophyll  in  the  group  below.  While  there  is 
a  chance  of  nectar  being  pilfered  from  the  flowers  by  ants,  the 
stem  is  cottony  and  ensnares  their  feet.  In  September,  when  small 
clusters  of  dark-purple  berries  replace  the  flowers,  and  rich  tints 
dye  the  leaves,  the  plant  is  truly  beautiful — of  course  to  invite 
migrating  birds  to  disperse  its  seeds.  It  is  said  the  Indians  used 
to  eat  the  horizontal,  white,  fleshy  rootstock,  which  has  a  flavor 
like  a  cucumber's. 


Carrion-flower 

(Smilax  herbacea)  Smilax  family 

Flowers — Carrion-scented, yellowish-green,  15  to  80  small,  6-parted 
ones  clustered  in  an  umbel  on  a  long  peduncle.  Stem: 
Smooth,  unarmed,  climbing  with  the  help  of  tendril-like  ap- 
pendages from  the  base  of  leafstalks.  Leaves  :  Egg-shaped, 
heart-shaped,  or  rounded,  pointed  tipped,  parallel-nerved, 
petioled.  Fruit :  Bluish-black  berries. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Moist  soil,  thickets,  woods,  roadside  fences. 

flowering  Season — April — June. 

Distribution — Northern  Canada  to  the  Gulf  States,  westward  to 
Nebraska. 

"  It  would  be  safe  to  say,"  says  John  Burroughs,  "  that  there 
is  a  species  of  smilax  with  an  unsavory  name,  that  the  bee  does  not 
visit,  herbacea*  The  production  of  this  plant  is  a  curious  freak  of 
nature.  ...  It  would  be  a  cruel  joke  to  offer  it  to  any  person 
not  acquainted  with  it,  to  smell.  It  is  like  the  vent  of  a  charnel- 
house."  (Thoreau  compared  its  odor  to  that  of  a  dead  rat  in  a 
wall !)  "It  is  first  cousin  to  the  trilliums,  among  the  prettiest  of 
our  native  wild  flowers,"  continues  Burroughs,  "and  the  same 
bad  blood  crops  out  in  the  purple  trillium  or  birthroot." 

Strange  that  so  close  an  observer  as  Burroughs  or  Thoreau 
should  not  have  credited  the  carrion-flower  with  being  something 
more  intelligent  than  a  mere  repellent  freak!  Like  the  purple 
trillium  (p.  7),  it  has  deliberately  adapted  itself  to  please  its  bene- 
factors, the  little  green  flesh  flies  so  commonly  seen  about  untidy 
butcher  shops  in  summer.  These,  sharing  with  many  beetles  the 
unthankful  task  of  removing  putrid  flesh  and  fowl  from  the  earth, 
acting  the  part  of  scavengers  for  nature,  are  naturally  attracted  to 
carrion-scented  flowers.  Of  these  they  have  an  ungrudged  mo- 
nopoly. But  the  purple  trillium  has  an  additional  advantage  in 

282 


Yellow  and  Orange 

both  smelling  and  looking  like  the  same  thing — a  piece  of  raw 
meat  past  its  prime.  Bees  and  butterflies,  with  their  highly  de- 
veloped aesthetic  sense,  ever  delighting  in  beautiful  colors,  perfume, 
and  nectar,  naturally  let  such  flowers  as  these  alone — another  ob- 
ject aimed  at  by  them,  for  then  the  flies  get  all  the  pollen  they  can 
eat.  Some  they  transfer,  of  course,  from  the  larger  staminate 
flowers  to  the  smaller  pistillate  ones  as  they  crawl  over  one  umbel 
of  the  carrion-flower,  then  alight  on  another. 

Presently  fruit  begins  to  set,  and  we  can  approach  the  luxu- 
riant vine  without  offence  to  our  noses.  The  beautiful  glossy 
green  foliage  takes  on  resplendent  tints  in  early  autumn — again 
with  interested  motives,  for  are  there  not  seeds  within  the  little 
bluish-black  berries,  waiting  for  the  birds  to  distribute  them  dur- 
ing their  migration  ? 

The  vicious  Catbrier,  Greenbrier,  or  Horsebrier  (S.  rotundi- 
folia),  similar  to  the  preceding,  except  that  its  four-angled  stem 
is  well  armed  with  green  prickles,  its  beautiful  glossy,  decorative 
leaves  are  more  rounded,  and  its  greenish  flower  umbels  lack 
foul  odor,  scarcely  needs  description.  Who  has  not  encountered 
it  in  the  roadside  and  woodland  thickets,  where  it  defiantly  bars 
the  way  ? 

In  the  most  inaccessible  part  of  such  a  briery  tangle,  that  rol- 
licking polyglot,  the  yellow-breasted  chat,  loves  to  hide  its  nest. 
Indeed,  many  birds  can  say  with  Brer  Rabbit  that  they  were 
"bred  en  bawn  in  a  brier-patch."  Throughout  the  eastern  half 
of  the  United  States  and  Upper  Canada  the  catbrier  displays  its 
insignificant  little  blossoms  from  April  to  June  for  a  miscellaneous 
lot  of  flies — insects  which  are  content  with  the  slightest  floral 
attractions  offered.  The  florist's  staple  vine  popularly  known  as 
"Smilax"  (Myrsiphyllum  asparagoides),  a  native  of  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  is  not  even  remotely  connected  with  true  Smilaceae. 


Yellow  Star-grass 

(Hypoxis  hirsuta)  Amaryllis  family 
(H.  erecta  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Bright  yellow  within,  greenish  and  hairy  outside,  about 
YZ  in.  across,  6-parted ;  the  perianth  divisions  spreading,  nar- 
rowly oblong;  a  few  flowers  at  the  summit  of  a  rough,  hairy 
scape  2  to  6  in.  high.  Leaves:  All  from  an  egg-shaped 
corm;  mostly  longer  than  scapes,  slender,  grass-like,  more 
or  less  hairy. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Dry,  open  woods,  prairies,  grassy  waste  places, 
fields. 

283 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Flowering  Season — May — October. 

Distribution — From  Maine  far  westward,  and  south  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico. 

Usually  only  one  of  these  little  blossoms  in  a  cluster  on  each 
plant  opens  at  a  time;  but  that  one  peers  upward  so  brightly 
from  among  the  grass  it  cannot  well  be  overlooked.  Sitting  in 
a  meadow  sprinkled  over  with  these  yellow  stars,  we  see  com- 
ing to  them  many  small  bees — chiefly  Halictus — to  gather  pollen 
for  their  unhatched  babies'  bread.  Of  course  they  do  not  carry 
all  the  pollen  to  their  tunnelled  nurseries;  some  must  often  be 
rubbed  off  on  the  sticky  pistil  tip  in  the  centre  of  other  stars.  The 
stamens  radiate,  that  self-fertilization  need  not  take  place  except 
as  a  last  extremity.  Visitors  failing,  the  little  flower  closes, 
bringing  its  pollen-laden  anthers  in  contact  with  its  own  stigma. 


Blackberry   Lily 

(Gemmingia  Chinensis)  Iris  family 
(Pardanthus  Chinensis  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Deep  orange  color,  speckled  irregularly  with  crimson  and 
purple  within  (Pardos  =  leopard ;  anthos  =  flower) ;  borne  in 
terminal,  forked  clusters.  Perianth  of  6  oblong,  petal-like, 
spreading  divisions;  6  stamens  with  linear  anthers;  style 
thickest  above,  with  3  branches.  Stem :  i  ^  to  4  ft.  tall,  leafy. 
Leaves:  Like  the  iris;  erect,  folded  blades,  8  to  10  in.  long. 
Fruit:  Resembling  a  blackberry;  an  erect  mass  of  round, 
black,  fleshy  seeds,  at  first  concealed  in  a  fig-shaped  capsule, 
whose  3  valves  curve  backward,  and  finally  drop  off. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Roadsides  and  hills. 

Flowering  Season— June— July. 

Distribution— Connecticut  to  Georgia,  westward  to  Indiana  and 
Missouri. 

How  many  beautiful  foreign  flowers,  commonly  grown  in 
our  gardens  here,  might  soon  become  naturalized  Americans 
were  we  only  generous  enough  to  lift  a  few  plants,  scatter  a  few 
seeds  over  our  fences  into  the  fields  and  roadsides — to  raise  the 
bars  of  their  prison,  as  it  were,  and  let  them  free!  Many  have 
run  away,  to  be  sure.  Once  across  the  wide  Atlantic,  or  wider 
Pacific,  their  passage  paid  (not  sneaking  in  among  the  ballast  like 
the  more  fortunate  weeds),  some  are  doomed  to  stay  in  prim, 
rigidly  cultivated  flower  beds  forever;  others,  only  until  a  chance 
to  bolt  for  freedom  presents  itself,  and  away  they  go.  Lucky 
are  they  if  every  flower  they  produce  is  not  picked  before  a  single 
seed  can  be  set. 

284 


Yellow  and  Orange 

This  blackberry  lily  of  gorgeous  hue  originally  came  from 
China.  Escaping  from  gardens  here  and  there,  it  was  first  re- 
ported as  a  wild  flower  at  East  Rock,  Connecticut;  other  groups 
of  vagabonds  were  met  marching  along  the  roadsides  on  Long 
Island;  near  Suffern,  New  York;  then  farther  southward  and 
westward,  until  it  has  already  attained  a  very  respectable  range. 
Every  plant  has  some  good  device  for  sending  its  offspring  away 
from  home  to  found  new  colonies,  if  man  would  but  let  it  alone'. 
Better  still,  give  the  eager  travellers  a  lift ! 


Large  Yellow  Lady's  Slipper;  Whippoorwill's 
Shoe;  Yellow  Moccasin  Flower 

(Cypripedium  hirsutum)  Orchid  family 
(C.  pubescens  of  Gray) 

Flower—  Solitary,  large,  showy,  borne  at  the  top  of  a  leafy  stem 

1  to  2  ft.  high.     Sepals  3,  2  of  them  united,  greenish  or  yel- 
lowish, striped  with  purple  or  dull  red,  very  long,  narrow  ; 

2  petals,  brown,  narrower,  twisting  ;  the  third  an  inflated  sac, 
open  at  the  top,   i  to  2  in.  long,  pale  yellow,  purple  lined  ; 
white  hairs  within  ;  sterile  stamen  triangular  ;  stigma  thick. 
Leaves:   Oval  or  elliptic,  pointed,  3  to  5  in.  long,  parallel- 
nerved,  sheathing. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Moist  or  boggy    woods   and   thickets  ;    hilly 

ground. 

Flowering  Season — May — July. 
Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Alabama,  westward  to  Minnesota  and 

Nebraska. 

Swinging  outward  from  a  leaf-clasped  stem,  this  orchid  at- 
tracts us  by  its  flaunted  beauty  and  decorative  form  from  tip  to 
root,  not  less  than  the  aesthetic  little  bees  for  which  its  adornment 
and  mechanism  are  so  marvellously  adapted.  Doubtless  the  heavy, 
oily  odor  is  an  additional  attraction  to  them.  Parallel  purplish 
lines,  converging  toward  the  circular  opening  of  the  pale  yellow, 
inflated  pouch,  guide  the  visitor  into  a  spacious  banquet-hall  (la- 
bellum)  such  as  the  pink  lady's  slipper  (see  p.  81)  also  entertains 
her  guests  in.  Fine  hairs  within  secrete  tiny  drops  of  fluid  at 
their  tips — a  secretion  which  hardens  into  a  brittle  crust,  like  a 
syrup's,  when  it  dries.  Darwin  became  especially  interested  in 
this  flower  through  a  delightful  correspondence  with  Professor 
Asa  Gray,  who  was  the  first  to  understand  it,  and  he  finally  se- 
cured a  specimen  to  experiment  on. 

"  I  first  introduced  some  flies  into  the  labellum  through  the 
285 


Yellow  and  Orange 

large  upper  opening,"  Darwin  wrote,  "but  they  were  either  too 
large  or  too  stupid,  and  did  not  crawl  out  properly.  I  then 
caught  and  placed  within  the  labellum  a  very  small  bee  which 
seemed  of  about  the  right  size,  namely  Andrena  parvula.  .  .  . 
The  bee  vainly  endeavored  to  crawl  out  again  the  same  way  it 
entered,  but  always  fell  backwards,  owing  to  the  margins  being 
inflected.  The  labellum  thus  acts  like  one  of  those  conical  traps 
with  the  edges  turned  inwards,  which  are  sold  to  catch  beetles 
and  cockroaches  in  London  kitchens.  It  could  not  creep  out 
through  the  slit  between  the  folded  edges  of  the  basal  part  of  the 
labellum,  as  the  elongated,  triangular,  rudimentary  stamen  here 
closes  the  passage.  Ultimately  it  forced  its  way  out  through  one  of 
the  small  orifices  close  to  one  of  the  anthers,  and  was  found  when 
caught  to  be  smeared  with  the  glutinous  pollen.  I  then  put  the  same 
bee  into  another  labellum  ;  and  again  it  crawled  out  through  one 
of  the  small  orifices,  always  covered  with  pollen.  1  repeated  the 
operation  five  times,  always  with  the  same  result.  I  afterwards 
cut  away  the  labellum,  so  as  to  examine  the  stigma,  and  found  its 
whole  surface  covered  with  pollen.  It  should  be  noticed  that  an 
insect  in  making  its  escape,  must  first  brush  past  the  stigma  and 
afterwards  one  of  the  anthers,  so  that  it  cannot  leave  pollen  on 
the  stigma,  until  being  already  smeared  with  pollen  from  one 
flower  it  enters  another  ;  and  thus  there  will  be  a  good  chance  of 
cross-fertilization  between  two  distinct  plants.  .  .  .  Thus  the 
use  of  all  parts  of  the  flower, — namely,  the  inflected  edges,  or  the 
polished  inner  sides  of  the  labellum ;  the  two  orifices  and  their 
position  close  to  the  anthers  and  stigma, — the  large  size  of  the 
medial  rudimentary  stamen, — are  rendered  intelligible.  An  insect 
which  enters  the  labellum  is  thus  compelled  to  crawl  out  by  one 
of  the  two  narrow  passages,  on  the  sides  of  which  the  pollen- 
masses  and  stigma  are  placed." 

These  common  orchids,  which  are  not  at  all  difficult  to 
naturalize  in  a  well-drained,  shady  spot  in  the  garden,  should  be 
lifted  with  a  good  ball  of  earth  and  plenty  of  leaf-mould  imme- 
diately after  flowering.  Here  we  can  note  little  American  An- 
drena bees  unwittingly  becoming  the  flower's  slaves.  Several 
species  of  exotic  cypripediums  are  so  common  in  the  city  florist's 
shops  every  one  has  an  opportunity  to  study  their  marvellous 
structure. 


The  similar  Small,  Yellow  Lady's  Slipper  (C.  parviflorum),  a 
delicately  fragrant  orchid  about  half  the  size  of  its  big  sister,  has 
a  brighter  yellow  pouch,  and  occasionally  its  sepals  and  petals  are 
purplish.  As  they  usually  grow  in  the  same  localities,  and  have  the 
same  blooming  season,  opportunities  for  comparison  are  not  lack- 
ing. This  fairer,  sweeter,  little  orchid  roams  westward  as  far  as 
the  State  of  Washington. 

286 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Yellow  Fringed   Orchis 

(Habenaria  ciliaris)  Orchid  family 

Flowers — Bright  yellow  or  orange,  borne  in  a  showy,  closely  set, 
oblong  spike,  3  to  6  in.  long.  The  lip  of  each  flower  copi- 
ously fringed  ;  the  slender  spur  i  to  \y2  in.  long  ;  similar  to 
white  fringed  orchis  (see  p.  165)  ;  and  between  the  two, 
intermediate  pale  yellow  hybrids  may  be  found.  Stem  : 
Slender,  leafy,  I  to  2^  feet  high.  Leaves:  Lance-shaped, 
clasping. 

Preferred  Habitat — Moist  meadows  and  sandy  bogs. 

Flowering  Season — July — August. 

Distribution— Vermont  to  Florida  ;  Ontario  to  Texas. 

Where  this  brilliant,  beautiful  orchid  and  its  lovely  white  sis- 
ter grow  together  in  the  bog — which  cannot  be  through  a  very 
wide  range,  since  one  is  common  northward,  where  the  other  is 
rare,  and  -Dice  versa — the  yellow  fringed  orchis  will  be  found 
blooming  a  few  days  later.  In  general  structure  the  plants  closely 
resemble  each  other.  Their  similar  method  of  enforcing  payment 
for  a  sip  of  nectar  concealed  in  a  tube  so  narrow  and  deep  none 
but  a  sphinx  moth  or  butterfly  may  drain  it  all  (though  large 
bumblebees  occasionally  get  some  too,  from  brimming  nectaries) 
has  been  described  on  page  166,  to  which  the  interested  reader  is 
referred.  Both  these  orchids  have  their  sticky  discs  projecting 
unusually  far,  as  if  raised  on  a  pedicel — an  arrangement  which  indi- 
cates that  they  "are  to  be  stuck  to  the  face  or  head  of  some  nectar- 
sucking  insect  of  appropriate  size  that  visits  the  flowers,"  wrote  Dr. 
Asa  Gray  over  forty  years  ago.  Various  species  of  hawk  moths, 
common  in  different  parts  of  our  area,  of  course  have  tongues  of 
various  lengths,  and  naturally  every  visitor  does  not  receive  his  load 
of  pollen  on  the  same  identical  spot.  At  dusk,  when  sphinx  moths 
begin  their  rounds,  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  white  and  yellow 
flowers  remain  conspicuous  long  after  blossoms  of  other  colors 
have  melted  into  the  general  darkness.  Such  flowers  as  cater  to 
these  moths,  if  they  have  fragrance,  emit  it  then  most  strongly, 
as  an  additional  attraction.  Again,  it  will  be  noticed  that  few 
such  flowers  provide  a  strong  projecting  petal-platform  for  visit- 
ors to  alight  on  ;  that  would  be  superfluous,  since  sphinx 
moths  suck  while  hovering  over  a  tube,  with  their  wings  in  ex- 
ceedingly rapid  motion,  just  like  a  humming-bird,  foi  which  the 
larger  species  are  so  often  mistaken  at  twilight.  This  deep-hued 
orchid  apparently  attracts  as  many  butterflies  as  sphinx  moths, 
which  show  a  predilection  for  the  white  species. 

From  Ontario  and  the  Mississippi  eastward,  and  southward 
to  the  Gulf,  the  Tubercled  or  Small  Pale  Green  Orchis  (H.  flava) 

287 


Yellow  and  Orange 

lifts  a  spire  of  inconspicuous  greenish-yellow  flowers,  more  attrac- 
tive to  the  eye  of  the  structural  botanist  than  to  the  aesthete.  It 
blooms  in  moist  places,  as  most  orchids  do,  since  water  with 
which  to  manufacture  nectar  enough  to  fill  their  deep  spurs  is  a 
prime  necessity.  Orchids  have  arrived  at  that  pinnacle  of  achieve- 
ment that  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  fertilize  themselves.  More 
than  that,  some  are  absolutely  sterile  to  their  own  pollen  when  it 
is  applied  to  their  stigmas  artificially  !  With  insect  aid,  however, 
a  single  plant  has  produced  over  1,000,700  seeds.  No  wonder, 
then,  that,  as  a  family,  they  have  adopted  the  most  marvellous 
blandishments  and  mechanism  in  the  whole  floral  kingdom  to  se- 
cure the  visits  of  that  special  insect  to  which  each  is  adapted,  and, 
having  secured  him,  to  compel  him  unwittingly  to  do  their  bid- 
ding. In  the  steaming  tropical  jungles,  where  vegetation  is  luxu- 
riant to  the  point  of  suffocation,  and  where  insect  life  swarms  in 
myriads  undreamed  of  here,  we  can  see  the  best  of  reasons  for 
orchids  mounting  into  trees  and  living  on  air  to  escape  strangula- 
tion on  the  ground,  and  for  donning  larger  and  more  gorgeous 
apparel  to  attract  attention  in  the  fierce  competition  for  insect 
trade  waged  about  them.  Here,  where  the  struggle  for  survival  is 
incomparably  easier,  we  have  terrestrial  orchids,  small,  and  quietly 
clad,  for  the  most  part. 

Having  the  gorgeous,  exotic  air  plants  of  the  hothouse  in  mind, 
this  little  tubercled  orchis  seems  a  very  poor  relation  indeed.  In 
June  and  July,  about  a  week  before  the  ragged  orchis  comes  out, 
we  may  look  for  this  small,  fringeless  sister.  Its  clasping  leaves, 
which  decrease  in  size  as  they  ascend  the  stem  (not  to  shut 
off  the  light  and  rain  from  the  lower  ones),  are  parallel-veined, 
elliptic,  or,  the  higher  ones,  lance-shaped.  A  prominent  tubercle, 
or  palate,  growing  upward  from  the  lip,  almost  conceals  the  en- 
trance to  the  nectary,  and  makes  a  side  approach  necessary.  Why  ? 
Usually  an  insect  has  free,  straight  access  down  the  centre  of  a 
flower's  throat,  but  here  he  cannot  have  it.  A  slender  tongue 
must  be  directed  obliquely  from  above  into  the  spur,  and  it  will 
enter  the  discal  groove  as  a  thread  enters  the  eye  of  a  needle.  By 
this  arrangement  the  tongue  must  certainly  come  in  contact  with 
one  of  the  sticky  discs  to  which  an  elongated  pollen  gland  is  at- 
tached. The  cement  on  the  disc  hardening  even  while  the  visitor 
sucks,  the  pollen  gland  is  therefore  drawn  out,  because  firmly 
attached  to  his  tongue.  At  first  the  pollen  mass  stands  erect  on 
the  proboscis  ;  but  in  the  fraction  of  a  moment  which  it  takes  a 
butterfly  to  flit  to  another  blossom,  it  has  bent  forward  auto- 
matically into  the  exact  position  required  for  it  to  come  in  contact 
with  the  sticky  stigma  of  the  next  tubercled  orchis  entered,  where 
it  will  be  broken  off.  Now  we  understand  the  use  of  the  palate. 
Butterfly  collectors  often  take  specimens  with  remnants  of  these 
pollen  stumps  stuck  to  their  tongues.  In  his  classical  work  "On 
the  Fertilization  of  Orchids  by  Insects,"  Darwin  tells  of  finding 

288 


Yellow  and  Orange 

a  mottled  rustic  butterfly  whose  proboscis  was  decorated  with 
eleven  pairs  of  pollen  masses,  taken  from  as  many  blossoms  of  the 
pyramidal  orchis.  Have  these  flowers  no  mercy  on  their  long- 
suffering  friends  ?  A  bee  with  some  orchid  pollen-stumps  at- 
tached to  its  head  was  once  sent  to  Mr.  Frank  Cheshire,  the 
English  expert  who  had  just  discovered  some  strange  bee  diseases. 
He  was  requested  to  name  the  malady  that  had  caused  so  ab- 
normal an  outgrowth  on  the  bee's  forehead! 

Often  found  growing  in  the  same  bog  with  the  tubercled 
species  is  the  Ragged  or  Fringed  Green  Orchis  (H,  lacera),  so  in- 
conspicuous we  often  overlook  it  unawares.  Examine  one  of  the 
dingy,  greenish-yellow  flowers  that  are  set  along  the  stem  in  a 
spike  to  make  all  the  show  in  the  world  possible,  each  with  its 
three-parted,  spreading  lip  finely  and  irregularly  cut  into  thread-like 
fringe  to  hail  the  passing  butterfly,  and  we  shall  see  that  it,  too, 
has  made  ingenious  provision  against  the  draining  of  its  spur  by 
a  visitor  without  proper  pay  for  his  entertainment.  Even  with- 
out the  gay  color  that  butterflies  ever  delight  in,  these  flowers 
contain  so  much  nectar  in  their  spurs,  neither  butterflies  nor  large 
bumblebees  are  long  in  hunting  them  out.  In  swamps  and  wet 
woodland  from  Nova  Scotia  to  Georgia,  and  westward  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi, the  ragged  orchis  blooms  in  June  or  July. 


Large  Yellow  Pond,  or  Water,  Lily;  Cow  Lily; 
Spatter-dock 

(Nymphaea  advena)  Water-lily  family 
(Nuphar  advena  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Yellow  or  greenish  outside,  rarely  purple  tinged, 
round,  depressed,  i  ^  to  3^2  in.  across.  Sepals  6,  unequal, 
concave,  thick,  fleshy  ;  petals  stamen-like,  oblong,  fleshy, 
short ;  stamens  very  numerous,  in  5  to  7  rows  ;  pistil  com- 
pounded of  many  carpels,  its  stigmatic  disc  pale  red  or  yel- 
low, with  12  to  24  rays.  Leaves;  Floating,  or  some  im- 
mersed, large,  thick,  sometimes  a  foot  long,  egg-shaped  or 
oval,  with  a  deep  cleft  at  base,  the  lobes  rounded. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Standing  water,  ponds,  slow  streams. 

Flowering  Season — April — September. 

Distribution — Rocky  Mountains  eastward,  south  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  north  to  Nova  Scotia. 

Comparisons  were  ever  odious.     Because  the  yellow  water 
lily  has  the  misfortune  to  claim  relationship  with  the  sweet- 
19  289 


Yellow  and  Orange 

scented  white  species  (see  p.  173),  must  it  never  receive  its  just 
meed  of  praise  ?  Hiawatha's  canoe,  let  it  be  remembered, 

"  Floated  on  the  river 
Like  a  yellow  leaf  in  autumn, 
Like  a  yellow  water-lily." 

But  even  those  who  admire  Longfellow's  lines  see  no  beauty 
in  the  golden  flower-bowls  floating  among  the  large,  lustrous, 
leathery  leaves. 

By  assuming  the  functions  of  petals,  the  colored  sepals  adver- 
tise for  insects.  Beetles,  which  answer  the  first  summons  to  a 
free  lunch,  crowd  in  as  the  sepals  begin  to  spread.  In  the  centre 
the  star-like  disc,  already  sticky,  is  revealed,  and  on  it  any  pollen 
they  have  carried  with  them  from  older  flowers  necessarily  rubs 
off.  At  first,  or  while  the  stigma  is  freshly  receptive  to  pollen, 
an  insect  cannot  make  his  entrance  except  by  crawling  over  this 
large,  sticky  plate.  At  this  time,  the  anthers  being  closed,  self- 
fertilization  is  impossible.  A  day  or  two  later,  after  the  pollen 
begins  to  ripen  on  countless  anthers,  the  flower  is  so  widely 
open  that  visitors  have  no  cause  to  alight  in  the  centre  ;  any  way, 
no  harm  could  result  if  they  did,  cross-fertilization  having  been 
presumably  accomplished.  While  beetles  (especially  Donacia) 
are  ever  abundant  visitors,  it  is  likely  they  do  much  more  harm 
than  good.  So  eagerly  do  they  gnaw  both  petals  and  stamens, 
which  look  like  loops  of  narrow  yellow  ribbon  within  the  bowl 
of  an  older  flower,  that,  although  they  must  carry  some  pollen  to 
younger  flowers  as  they  travel  on,  it  is  probable  they  destroy  ten 
times  more  than  their  share.  Flies  transport  pollen  too.  The 
smaller  bees  (Halictus  and  Andrena  chiefly)  find  some  nectar 
secreted  on  the  outer  faces  of  the  stamen-like  petals,  which  they 
mix  with  pollen  to  make  their  babies'  bread. 

The  very  beautiful  native  American  Lotus  (Nelumbo  luted), 
also  known  as  Water  Chinkapin  or  Wankapin,  found  locally  in 
Ontario,  the  Connecticut  River,  some  lakes,  slow  streams,  and 
ponds  in  New  Jersey,  southward  to  Florida,  and  westward  to 
Michigan  and  Illinois,  Indian  Territory  and  Louisiana,  displays  its 
pale  yellow  flowers  in  July  and  August.  They  measure  from  four 
to  ten  inches  across,  and  suggest  a  yellow  form  of  the  sweet- 
scented  white  water  lily ;  but  there  are  fewer  petals,  gradually 
passing  into  an  indefinite  number  of  stamens.  The  great  round, 
ribbed  leaves,  smooth  above,  hairy  beneath,  may  be  raised  high 
above  the  water,  immersed  or  floating.  Both  leaf  and  flower 
stalks  contain  several  large  air  canals.  The  flowers  which  are  fe- 
male when  they  expand  far  enough  for  a  pollen-laden  guest  to 
crawl  into  the  centre,  are  afterward  male,  securing  cross-fertiliza- 
tion by  this  means,  just  as  the  yellow  pond  lily  does  ;  only  the  small 


Yellow  and  Orange 

bees  must  content  themselves  here  with  pollen  only — a  diet  that 
pleases  the  destructive  beetles  and  the  flies  (Syrphidae)  perfectly. 
Japanese  artists  especially  have  taught  us  how  much  of  the 
beauty  of  a  Nelumbo  we  should  lose  if  it  ripened  its  decorative 
seed-vessel  below  the  surface  as  the  sweet-scented  white  water  lily 
does.  This  flat-topped  receptacle,  held  erect,  has  its  little  round 
nuts  imbedded  in  pits  in  its  surface,  ready  to  be  picked  out  by 
aquatic  birds,  and  distributed  by  them  in  their  wanderings.  Both 
seeds  and  tubers  are  farinaceous  and  edible.  In  some  places  it 
is  known  the  Indians  introduced  the  plant  for  food.  Professor 
Charles  Goodyear  has  written  an  elaborate,  plausible  argument, 
illustrated  with  many  reproductions  of  sculpture,  pottery,  and 
mural  painting  in  the  civilized  world  of  the  ancients  to  prove  that 
all  decorative  ornamental  design  has  been  evolved  from  the  sacred 
Egyptian  lotus  (Nelumbo  Nelumbo),  still  revered  throughout  the 
East  (see  p.  173). 

Marsh   Marigold;   Meadow-gowan ;  American 
Cowslip 

(Caltha  palustris)  Crowfoot  family 

Flowers — Bright,  shining  yellow,  i  to  I  y2  in.  across,  a  few  in  ter- 
minal and  axillary  groups.  No  petals ;  usually  5  (often 
more)  oval,  petal-like  sepals  ;  stamens  numerous  ;  many 
pistils  (carpels)  without  styles.  Stem :  Stout,  smooth,  hol- 
low, branching,  i  to  2  ft.  high.  Leaves :  Mostly  from  root, 
rounded,  broad,  and  heart-shaped  at  base,  or  kidney-shaped, 
upper  ones  almost  sessile,  lower  ones  on  fleshy  petioles. 

Preferred  Habitat — Springy  ground,  low  meadows,  swamps,  river 
banks,  ditches. 

Flowering  Season — April — June. 

Distribution — Carolina  to  Iowa,  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  very 
far  north. 

Not  a  true  marigold,  and  even  less  a  cowslip,  it  is  by  these 
names  that  this  flower,  which  looks  most  like  a  buttercup,  will 
continue  to  be  called,  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  scientific  classi- 
fiers. Doubtless  the  first  of  these  folk-names  refers  to  its  use  in 
church  festivals  during  the  Middle  Ages  as  one  of  the  blossoms 
devoted  to  the  Virgin  Mary. 

"  And  winking  Mary-buds  begin 
To  ope  their  golden  eyes," 

sing  the  musicians  in  "  Cymbeline."  Whoever  has  seen  the 
watery  Avon  meadows  in  April,  yellow  and  twinkling  with  marsh 
mangolds  when  "the  lark  at  heaven's  gate  sings,"  appreciates 

291 


Yellow  and  Orange 

why  the  commentators  incline  to  identify  Shakespeare's  Mary- 
buds  with  the  Caltha  of  these  and  our  own  marshes. 

Not  for  poet's  rhapsodies,  but  for  the  more  welcome  hum  of 
small  bees  and  flies  intent  on  breakfasting  do  these  flowers  open 
in  the  morning  sunshine.  Nectar  secreted  on  the  sides  of  each 
of  the  many  carpels  invites  a  conscientious  bee  all  around  the 
centre,  on  which  she  should  alight  to  truly  benefit  her  entertainer. 
Honey  bees  may  be  seen  sucking  only  enough  nectar  to  aid  them 
in  storing  pollen  ;  bumblebees  feasting  for  their  own  benefit,  not 
their  descendants'  ;  little  mining  bees  and  quantities  of  flies  also, 
although  not  many  species  are  represented  among  the  visitors, 
owing  to  the  flower's  early  blooming  season.  Always  conspicu- 
ous among  the  throng  are  the  brilliant  Syrphidae  flies — gorgeous 
little  creatures  which  show  a  fondness  for  blossoms  as  gaily  col- 
ored as  their  own  lustrous  bodies.  Indeed,  these  are  the  principal 
pollinators. 

Some  country  people  who  boil  the  young  plants  declare  these 
"greens"  are  as  good  as  spinach.  What  sacrilege  to  reduce 
crisp,  glossy,  beautiful  leaves  like  these  to  a  slimy  mess  in  a  pot! 
The  tender  buds,  often  used  in  white  sauce  as  a  substitute  for 
capers,  probably  do  not  give  it  the  same  piquancy  where  piquancy 
is  surely  most  needed — on  boiled  mutton,  said  to  be  Queen  Vic- 
toria's favorite  dish.  Hawked  about  the  streets  in  tight  bunches, 
the  marsh-marigold  blossoms — with  half  their  yellow  sepals 
already  dropped — and  the  fragrant,  pearly-pink  arbutus  are  the 
most  familiar  spring  wild  flowers  seen  in  Eastern  cities. 


Common  Meadow  Buttercup;  Tall  Crowfoot; 
Kingcups;  Cuckoo  Flower;  Goldcups; 
Butter-flowers;  Blister-flowers 

(Ranunculus  acris)  Crowfoot  family 

Flowers — bright,  shining  yellow,  about  i  in.  across,  numerous, 
terminating  long  slender  footstalks.  Calyx  of  5  spreading 
sepals  ;  corolla  of  5  petals  ;  yellow  stamens  and  carpels. 
Stem:  Erect,  branched  above,  hairy  (sometimes  nearly 
smooth),  2  to  3  feet  tall,  from  fibrous  roots.  Leaves :  In  a 
tuft  from  the  base,  long  petioled,  of  3  to  7  divisions  cleft  into 
numerous  lobes  ;  stem  leaves  nearly  sessile,  distant,  3-parted. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Meadows,  fields,  roadsides,  grassy  places. 

Flowering^  Season — May — September. 

Distribution — Naturalized  from  Europe  in  Canada  and  the  United 
States  ;  most  common  North. 

What  youngster  has  not  held  these  shining  golden  flowers 
under  his  chin  to  test  his  fondness  for  butter  ?    Dandelions  and 

292 


Yellow  and  Orange 

marsh-marigolds  may  reflect  their  color  in  his  clear  skin  too,  but 
the  buttercup  is  every  child's  favorite.  When 

"  Cuckoo-buds  of  yellow  hue 
Do  paint  the  meadows  with  delight," 

daisies,  pink  clover,  and  waving  timothy  bear  them  company 
here;  not  the  "daisies  pied,"  violets,  and  lady-smocks  of  Shake- 
speare's England.  How  incomparably  beautiful  are  our  own 
meadows  in  June  !  But  the  glitter  of  the  buttercup,  which  is  as 
nothing  to  the  glitter  of  a  gold  dollar  in  the  eyes  of  a  practical 
farmer,  fills  him  with  wrath  when  this  immigrant  takes  posses- 
sion of  his  pastures.  Cattle  will  not  eat  the  acrid,  caustic  plant 
—a  sufficient  reason  for  most  members  of  the  Ranunculaceae  to 
stoop  to  the  low  trick  of  secreting  poisonous  or  bitter  juices. 
Self-preservation  leads  a  cousin,  the  garden  monk's  hood,  even  to 
murderous  practices.  Since  children  will  put  everything  within 
reach  into  their  mouths,  they  should  be  warned  against  biting  the 
buttercup's  stem  and  leaves,  that  are  capable  of  raising  blisters. 
"Beggars  use  the  juice  to  produce  sores  upon  their  skin,"  says 
Mrs.  Creevy.  A  designer  might  employ  these  exquisitely  formed 
leaves  far  more  profitably. 

This  and  the  bulbous  buttercup,  having  so  much  else  in  com- 
mon, have  also  the  same  visitors.  "  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,"  says 
Sir  John  Lubbock,  "  as  Aristotle  long  ago  mentioned,  that  in  most 
cases  bees  confine  themselves  in  each  journey  to  a  single  species 
of  plant ;  though  in  the  case  of  some  very  nearly  allied  forms  this 
is  not  so  ;  for  instance,  it  is  stated  on  good  authority  (Muller) 
that  Ranunculus  acris,  R.  repens,  and  R.  bulbosus  are  not  distin- 
guished by  the  bees,  or  at  least  are  visited  indifferently  by  them, 
as  is  also  the  case  with  two  of  the  species  of  clover."  From 
what  we  already  know  of  the  brilliant  Syrphidae  flies'  fondness 
for  equally  brilliant  colors,  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  great  num- 
bers of  them  about  the  buttercups,  with  bees,  wasps,  and  beetles 
— upwards  of  sixty  species.  Modern  scientists  believe  that  the 
habit  of  feeding  on  flowers  has  called  out  the  color-sense  of  in- 
sects and  the  taste  for  bright  colors,  and  that  sexual  selection  has 
been  guided  by  this  taste.  The  most  unscientific  among  us  soon 
finds  evidence  on  every  hand  that  flowers  and  insects  have  devel- 
oped together  through  mutual  dependence. 

By  having  its  nourishment  thriftily  stored  up  underground 
all  winter,  the  Bulbous  Buttercup  {R.  bulbosus)  is  able  to  steal  a 
march  on  its  fibrous-rooted  sister  that  must  accumulate  hers  all 
spring;  consequently  it  is  first  to  flower,  coming  in  early  May, 
and  lasting  through  June.  It  is  a  low  and  generally  more  hairy 
plant,  but  closely  resembling  the  tall  buttercup  in  most  respects, 
and,  like  it,  a  naturalized  European  immigrant  now  thoroughly  at 

293 


Yellow  and  Orange 

home  in  fields  and  roadsides  in  most  sections  of  the  United  States 
and  Canada. 

Much  less  common  is  the  Creeping  Buttercup  (R.  repens], 
which  spreads  by  runners  until  it  forms  large  patches  in  fields 
and  roadsides,  chiefly  in  the  Eastern  States.  Its  leaves,  which 
are  sometimes  blotched,  are  divided  into  three  parts,  the  terminal 
one,  often  all  three,  stalked.  May— July. 

First  to  bloom  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York  (from  March  to 
May)  is  the  Hispid  Buttercup  (R.  hispidus),  densely  hairy  when 
young.  The  leaves,  which  are  pinnately  divided  into  from  three 
to  five  leaflets,  cleft  or  lobed,  chiefly  arise  on  long  petioles  from  a 
cluster  of  thickened  fibrous  roots.  The  flower  may  be  only  half 
an  inch  or  an  inch  and  a  half  across.  It  is  found  in  dry  woods 
and  thickets  throughout  the  eastern  half  of  the  United  States; 
whereas  the  much  smaller  flowered  Bristly  Buttercup  (R.  Pennsyi- 
vanicus)  shows  a  preference  for  low-lying  meadows  and  wet, 
open  ground  through  a  wider,  more  westerly  range.  Its  stout, 
hollow,  leafy  stem,  beset  with  stiff  hairs,  discourages  the  tongues 
of  grazing  animals.  June — August. 

Commonest  of  the  early  buttercups  is  the  Tufted  species  (R. 
fascicularis),  a  little  plant  seldom  a  foot  high,  found  in  the  woods 
and  on  rocky  hillsides  from  Texas  and  Manitoba,  east  to  the  Atlan- 
tic, flowering  in  April  or  May.  The  long-stalked  leaves  are  divided 
into  from  three  to  five  parts  ;  the  bright  yellow  flowers,  with 
rather  narrow,  distant  petals,  measure  about  an  inch  across.  They 
open  sparingly,  usually  only  one  or  two  at  a  time  on  each  plant, 
to  favor  pollination  from  another  one. 

Scattered  patches  of  the  Swamp  or  Marsh  Buttercup  (R.  sep- 
tentrionalis)  brighten  low,  rich  meadows  also  with  their  large 
satiny  yellow  flowers,  whose  place  in  the  botany  even  the  untrained 
eye  knows  at  sight.  The  smooth,  spreading  plant  sometimes 
takes  root  at  the  joints  of  its  branches  and  sends  forth  runners, 
but  the  stems  mostly  ascend.  The  large  lower  mottled  leaves 
are  raised  well  out  of  the  wet,  or  above  the  grass,  on  long  peti- 
oles. They  have  three  divisions,  each  lobed  and  cleft.  From 
Georgia  and  Kentucky  far  northward  this  buttercup  blooms  from 
April  to  July,  opening  only  a  few  flowers  at  a  time — a  method 
which  may  make  it  less  showy,  but  more  certain  to  secure  cross- 
pollination  between  distinct  plants. 

The  Yellow  Water  Buttercup  or  Crowfoot  (R.  delphinifolius) 
— R.  muctifidus  of  Gray — found  blooming  in  ponds  through  the 
summer  months,  certainly  justifies  the  family  name  derived  from 

294 


Yellow  and  Orange 

rana  —  a  frog.  Many  other  members  grow  in  marshes,  it  is  true, 
but  this  ranunculus  lives  after  the  manner  of  its  namesake,  some- 
times immersed,  sometimes  stranded  on  the  muddy  shore.  Two 
types  of  leaves  occur  on  the  same  stem.  Their  waving  filaments, 
which  make  the  immersed  leaves  look  fringy,  take  every  advan- 
tage of  what  little  carbonic-acid  gas  is  dissolved  under  the  sur- 
face. Moreover,  they  are  better  adapted  to  withstand  the  water's 
pressure  and  possible  currents  than  solid  blades  would  be.  The 
floating  leaves  which  loll  upon  the  surface  to  take  advantage  of 
the  air  and  sunlight,  expand  three,  four,  or  five  divisions, 
variously  lobed.  On  this  plant  we  see  one  set  of  leaves  perfectly 
adapted  to  immersion,  and  another  set  to  aerial  existence.  The 
stem,  which  may  measure  several  feet  in  length,  roots  at  the 
joints  when  it  can.  Range  from  the  Mississippi  and  Ontario 
eastward  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

The  White  Water-Crowfoot  (Batrachium  trichophyllum) — 
Ranunculus  aquatilis  of  Gray — has  its  fine  thread-like  leaves 
entirely  submerged  ;  but  the  flowers,  like  a  whale,  as  the  old 
conundrum  put  it,  come  to  the  surface  to  blow.  The  latter 
are  small,  white,  or  only  yellow  at  the  base,  where  each  petal 
bears  a  spot  or  little  pit  that  serves  as  a  pathfinder  to  the  flies. 
When  the  water  rises  unusually  high,  the  blossoms  never  open, 
but  remain  submerged,  and  fertilize  themselves.  Seen  under 
water,  the  delicate  leaves,  which  are  little  more  than  forked  hairs, 
spread  abroad  in  dainty  patterns  ;  lifted  out  of  the  water  these 
flaccid  filaments  utterly  collapse.  In  ponds  and  shallow,  slow 
streams,  this  common  plant  flowers  from  June  to  September 
almost  throughout  the  Union,  the  British  Possessions  north  of  us, 
and  in  Europe  and  Asia. 

The  Water  Plantain  Spearwort  (/?.  obtusiusculus) — R.  alis- 
maefolius  of  Gray — flecks  the  marshes  from  June  to  August  with 
its  small  golden  flowers,  which  the  merest  novice  knows  must 
be  kin  to  the  buttercup.  The  smooth,  hollow  stem,  especially 
thick  at  the  base,  likes  to  root  from  the  lower  joints.  A  pecu- 
liarity of  the  lance-shaped  or  oblong  lance-shaped  leaves  is  that 
the  lower  ones  have  petioles  so  broad  where  they  clasp  the  stem 
that  they  appear  to  be  long  blades  suddenly  contracted  just  above 
their  base. 


Barberry;  Pepperidge-bush 

(Berberis  vulgaris)  Barberry  family 

Flowers — Yellow,  small,  odor  disagreeable,  6-parted,  borne  in 
drooping,  many-flowered  racemes  from  the  leaf  axils  along 
arching  twigs.  Stem :  A  much  branched,  smooth,  gray  shrub, 

295 


Yellow  and  Orange 

5  to  8  ft.  tall,  armed  with  sharp  spines.    Leaves:  From  the  3- 

pronged  spines  (thorns)  ;  oval  or  obovate,  bristly   edged. 

Fruit:  Oblong,  scarlet,  acid  berries. 

Preferred  Habitat — Thickets ;  roadsides ;  dry  or  gravelly  soil. 
Flowering  Season — May — June. 
Distribution — Naturalized  in  New  England  and  Middle  States;  less 

common  in  Canada  and  the  West.     Europe  and  Asia. 

When  the  twigs  of  barberry  bushes  arch  with  the  weight  of 
clusters  of  beautiful  bright  berries  in  September,  every  one  must 
take  notice  of  a  shrub  so  decorative,  which  receives  scant  atten- 
tion from  us,  however,  when  its  insignificant  little  flowers  are 
out.  Yet  these  blossoms,  small  as  they  are,  are  up  to  a  mar- 
vellous trick,  quite  as  remarkable  as  the  laurel's  (p.  125)  or  the 
calopogon's  (p.  86),  to  compel  insects  to  do  their  bidding.  Three 
of  the  six  sepals,  by  their  size  and  color,  attend  to  the  advertising, 
playing  the  part  of  a  corolla;  and  partly  by  curving  inward  at  the 
tip,  partly  by  the  drooping  posture  of  the  flower,  help  protect 
the  stamens,  pistil,  and  nectar  glands  within  from  rain.  Did  the 
flowers  hang  vertically,  not  obliquely,  such  curvature  of  the  tips 
of  sepals  and  petals  would  be  unnecessary.  Six  stamens  surround 
a  pistil,  but  each  of  their  six  anthers,  which  are  in  reality  little 
pollen  boxes  opening  by  trap-doors  on  either  side,  is  tucked  under 
the  curving  tip  of  a  petal  at  whose  base  lie  two  orange-colored 
nectar  glands.  A  small  bee  or  fly  enters  the  flower  :  what  hap- 
pens ?  To  reach  the  nectar,  he  must  probe  between  the  bases  of 
two  exceedingly  irritable  stamens.  The  merest  touch  of  a  visitor's 
tongue  against  them  releases  two  anthers,  just  as  the  nibbling 
mouse  all  unsuspectingly  releases  the  wire  from  the  hook  of  the 
wooden  trap  he  is  caught  in.  As  the  two  stamens  spring  up- 
ward on  being  released,  pollen  instantly  flies  out  of  the  trap-doors 
of  the  anther  boxes  on  the  bee,  which  suffers  no  greater  penalty 
than  being  obliged  to  carry  it  to  the  stigma  of  another  flower.  So 
short  are  the  stamens,  it  is  improbable  that  a  flower's  pollen  ever 
reaches  its  own  stigma  except  through  the  occasional  confused 
fumbling  of  a  visitor.  Usually  he  is  so  startled  by  the  sudden 
shower  of  pollen  that  he  flies  away  instantly. 

In  the  barberry  bushes,  as  in  the  gorse,  when  grown  in  dry, 
gravelly  situations,  we  see  many  leaves  and  twigs  modified  into 
thorns  to  diminish  the  loss  of  water  through  evaporation  by 
exposing  too  much  leaf  surface  to  the  sun  and  air.  That  such 
spines  protect  the  plants  which  bear  them  from  the  ravages  of 
grazing  cattle  is,  of  course,  an  additional  motive  for  their  presence. 
Under  cultivation,  in  well-watered  garden  soil — and  how  many 
charming  varieties  of  barberries  are  cultivated — the  thorny  shrub 
loses  much  of  its  armor,  putting  forth  many  more  leaves,  in 
rosettes,  along  more  numerous  twigs,  instead.  Even  the  prickly- 
pear  cactus  might  become  mild  as  a  lamb  were  it  to  forswear 

296 


Yellow  and  Orange 

sandy  deserts  and  live  in  marshes  instead.  Country  people  some- 
times rob  the  birds  of  the  acid  berries  to  make  preserves.  The 
wood  furnishes  a  yellow  dye. 

Curiously  enough  it  is  the  European  barberry  that  is  the  com- 
mon species  here.  The  American  Barberry  (B.  Canadensis),  a 
lower  shrub,  with  dark  reddish-brown  twigs;  its  leaves  more 
distantly  toothed;  its  flowers,  and  consequently  its  berries,  in 
smaller  clusters,  keeps  almost  exclusively  to  the  woods  in  the 
Alleghany  region  and  in  the  southwest,  in  spite  of  its  specific 
name. 


Spice-bush;    Benjamin-bush;   Wild    Allspice; 
Fever-bush 

(Benzoin  Benzoin)  Laurel  family 
(Lindera  Benzoin  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Before  the  leaves,  lemon  yellow,  fragrant,  small,  in  clus- 
ters close  to  the  slender,  brittle  twigs.  Six  petal-like  sepals  ; 
sterile  flowers  with  9  stamens  in  3  series  ;  fertile  flowers 
with  a  round  ovary  encircled  by  abortive  stamens.  Stem :  A 
smooth  shrub  4  to  20  ft.  tall.  Leaves :  Alternate,  entire,  oval 
or  elliptic,  2  to  5  in.  long.  Fruit :  Oblong,  red,  berry-like 
drupes. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Moist  woodlands,  thickets,  beside  streams. 

Flowering  Season — March — May. 

Distribution — Central  New  England,  Ontario,  and  Michigan,  south- 
ward to  Carolina  and  Kansas. 

Even  before  the  scaly  catkins  on  the  alders  become  yellow, 
or  the  silvery  velvet  pussy  willows  expand  to  welcome  the  ear- 
liest bees  that  fly,  this  leafless  bush  breathes  a  faint  spicy  frag- 
rance in  the  bleak  gray  woods.  Its  only  rivals  among  the 
shrubbery,  the  service-berry  and  its  twin  sister  the  shad-bush, 
have  scarcely  had  the  temerity  to  burst  into  bloom  when  the  little 
clusters  of  lemon-yellow  flowers,  cuddled  close  to  the  naked 
branches,  give  us  our  first  delightful  spring  surprise.  All  the 
favor  they  ask  of  the  few  insects  then  flying  is  that  they  shall 
transfer  the  pollen  from  the  sterile  to  the  fertile  flowers  as  a  rec- 
ompense for  the  early  feast  spread.  Inasmuch  as  no  single 
blossom  contains  both  stamens  and  pistil,  little  wonder  the  flowers 
should  woo  with  color  and  fragrance  the  guests  on  whose  min- 
istrations the  continuance  of  the  species  absolutely  depends. 
Later,  when  the  leaves  appear,  we  may  know  as  soon  as  we 
crush  them  in  the  hand  that  the  aromatic  sassafras  is  next  of  kin. 

297 


Yellow  and  Orange 

But  ages  before  Linnaeus  published  "Species  Plantarum  "  butter- 
flies had  discovered  floral  relationships. 

Sharp  eyes  may  have  noticed  how  often  the  leaves  on  both 
the  spice-bush  and  the  sassafras  tree  are  curled.  Have  you  ever 
drawn  apart  the  leaf  edges  and  been  startled  by  the  large,  fat 
green  caterpillar,  speckled  with  blue,  whose  two  great  black 
"eyes  "  stare  up  at  you  as  he  reposes  in  his  comfortable  nest — a 
cradle  which  also  combines  the  advantages  of  a  restaurant  ?  This 
is  the  caterpillar  of  the  common  spice-bush  swallow-tail  butterfly 
(Papilio  troilus),  an  exquisite,  dark,  velvety  creature  with  pale 
greenish-blue  markings  on  its  hind  wings.  (See  Dr.  Holland's 
"  Butterfly  Book,"  Plate  XLI.)  The  yellow  stage  of  this  caterpillar 
(which  William  Hamilton  Gibson  calls  the  "spice-bush  buga- 
boo") indicates,  he  says,  that  "its  period  of  transformation  is 
close  at  hand.  Selecting  a  suitable  situation,  it  spins  a  tiny  tuft 
of  silk,  into  which  it  entangles  its  hindmost  pair  of  feet,  after 
which  it  forms  a  V-shaped  loop  about  the  front  portion  of  its 
body,  and  hangs  thus  suspended,  soon  changing  to  a  chrysalis  of 
a  pale  wood  color.  These  chrysalides  commonly  survive  the 
winter,  and  in  the  following  June  the  beautiful  '  blue  swallow- 
tail '  will  emerge,  and  may  be  seen  suggestively  fluttering  and 
poising  about  the  spice  and  sassafras  bushes."  After  the  eggs 
she  lays  on  them  hatch,  the  caterpillars  live  upon  the  leaves. 
Mrs.  Starr  Dana  says  the  leaves  were  used  as  a  substitute  for  tea 
during  the  Rebellion  ;  and  the  powdered  berries  for  allspice  by 
housekeepers  in  Revolutionary  days. 


Greater  Celandine;  Swallow-wort 

(Chelidonium  ma/us)  Poppy  family 

Flowers — Lustreless  yellow,  about  %  in.  across,  on  slender  pedi- 
cels, in  a  small  umbel-like  cluster.  Sepals  2,  soon  falling  ;  4 
petals,  many  yellow  stamens,  pistil  prominent.  Stem :  Weak, 
i  to  2  ft.  high,  branching,  slightly  hairy,  containing  bright 
orange  acrid  juice.  Leaves:  Thin,  4  to  8  in.  long,  deeply 
cleft  into  5  (usually)  irregular  oval  lobes,  the  terminal  one 
largest.  Fruit:  Smooth,  slender,  erect  pods,  I  to  2  in.  long, 
tipped  with  the  persistent  style. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Dry  wasteland,  fields,  roadsides,  gardens,  near 
dwellings. 

flowering  Season — April — September. 

Distribution — Naturalized  from  Europe  in  Eastern  United  States. 

Not  this  weak  invader  of  our  roadsides,  whose  four  yellow 
petals  suggest  one  of  the  cross-bearing  mustard  tribe,  but  the 
pert  little  Lesser  Celandine,  Pilewort,or  Fig  wort  Buttercup  (Ficaria 

298 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Ficaria),  one  of  the  Crowfoot  family,  whose  larger  solitary 
satiny  yellow  flowers  so  commonly  star  European  pastures,  was 
Wordsworth's  special  delight — a  tiny,  turf-loving  plant,  about 
which  much  poetical  association  clusters.  Having  stolen  passage 
across  the  Atlantic,  it  is  now  making  itself  at  home  about  College 
Point,  Long  Island;  on  Staten  Island;  near  Philadelphia,  and 
maybe  elsewhere.  Doubtless  it  will  one  day  overrun  our  fields, 
as  so  many  other  European  immigrants  have  done. 

The  generic  Greek  name  of  the  greater  celandine,  meaning  a 
swallow,  was  given  it  because  it  begins  to  bloom  when  the  first 
returning  swallows  are  seen  skimming  over  the  water  and  freshly 
ploughed  fields  in  a  perfect  ecstasy  of  flight,  and  continues  in  flower 
among  its  erect  seed  capsules  until  the  first  cool  days  of  autumn 
kill  the  gnats  and  small  winged  insects  not  driven  to  cover.  Then 
the  swallows,  dependent  on  such  fare,  must  go  to  warmer  climes 
where  plenty  still  fly.  Quaint  old  Gerarde  claims  that  the  swal- 
low-wort was  so  called  because  "with  this  herbe  the  dams  re- 
store eye-sight  to  their  young  ones  when  their  eye  be  put  out " 
by  swallows.  Coles  asserts  "the  swallow  cureth  her  dim  eyes 
with  celandine." 

There  can  be  little  satisfaction  in  picking  a  weed  which 
droops  immediately,  poppy  fashion,  and  whose  saffron  juice 
stains  whatever  it  touches.  A  drop  of  this  acrid  fluid  on  the  tip 
of  the  tongue  is  not  soon  forgotten.  The  luminous  experiments 
of  Darwin,  Lubbock,  Wallace,  Mailer,  and  Sprengel,  among 
others,  have  proved  that  color  in  flowers  exists  for  the  purpose 
of  attracting  insects.  But  how  about  colored  juices  in  the  blood- 
roots'  and  poppies'  stems,  for  example  ;  the  bright  stalk  of  the 
pokeweed,  the  orange-yellow  root  of  the  carrot,  the  exquisite 
tints  of  autumn  leaves,  fungi,  and  sea-weed  ?  Besides  the  green 
color  (chlorophyll),  the  most  necessary  of  all  ingredients  to  a 
plant  (see  p.  234)  are  the  lipochromes,  which  vary  from  yellow 
to  red.  These  are  most  conspicuous  when  they  displace  the 
chlorophyll  in  autumn  foliage.  Then  there  are  the  anthocyans, 
ranging  from  magenta  to  blue  and  violet.  These  vary  according 
to  the  amount  of  acid  or  alkali  in  the  sap.  Try  the  effect  of 
immersing  a  blue  morning  glory  in  an  acid  solution,  or  a  deep 
pink  one  in  an  alkaline  solution.  One  theory  to  account  for  the 
presence  of  color  is  that  it  exists  to  screen  the  plant's  protoplasm 
from  light  ;  that  it  has  a  physiological  function  with  which 
insects  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  ;  and  that  by  its  presence 
the  temperature  is  raised  and  the  plant  is  protected  from  cold. 
Every  one  who  has  handled  the  colorless  Indian  pipe  knows 
how  cold  and  clammy  it  is. 


The  Yellow  or  Celandine  Poppy  (Stylophorum  diphyllum), 
with  shining  yellow  flowers  double  the  size  of  the  greater  celan- 

299 


Yellow  and  Orange 

dine's,  and  similar  pinnatifid  leaves  springing  chiefly  from  the 
base,  blooms  even  in  March  and  through  the  spring  in  the  Mid- 
dle States  and  westward  to  Wisconsin  and  Missouri.  Usually 
only  one  of  the  few  terminal  blossoms  opens  at  a  time,  but  in 
low.  open  woodlands  it  gleams  like  a  miniature  sun.  Alas!  that 
the  glorious  California  Poppy,  so  commonly  grown  in  Eastern 
gardens  (Eschscholt^ia  Calif ormca),  should  confine  itself  to  a 
limited  range  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  We  have  no  true  native  pop- 
pies (Papaver)  in  America  ;  such  as  are  rarely  to  be  seen  in  a 
wild  state,  have  only  locally  escaped  from  cultivation. 


Golden  Corydalis 

(Capnoides  aureum)  Poppy  family 
(Corydalis  aurea  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Bright  yellow,  about  ^  in.  long,  with  a  spur  half  the 
length  of  the  tubular  corolla;  irregular,  lipped;  each  upheld 
by  a  little  bract,  mostly  at  a  horizontal;  borne  in  a  terminal, 
short  raceme.  Stem:  Smooth,  6  to  14  in.  high,  branching. 
Leaves:  Finely  dissected,  decompound,  petioled.  Fruit: 
Sickle-shaped,  drooping  pods,  wavy  lumped,  and  tipped 
with  the  style. 

Preferred  Habitat — Woods,  rocky  banks. 

Flowering  Season — March — May. 

Distribution — Minnesota  to  Nova  Scotia  and  Pennsylvania. 

A  dainty  little  plant,  next  of  kin  to  the  pink  corydalis  (see 
P-  95). 

Black  Mustard 

(Brassica  nigrd)  Mustard  family 

Flowers — Bright  yellow,  fading  pale,  ^  to  YZ  in.  across,  4-parted, 
in  elongated  racemes  ;  quickly  followed  by  narrow  upright 
4-sided  pods  about  Y*  in.  long  appressed  against  the  stem. 
Stem:  Erect,  2  to  7  ft.  tall,  branching.  Leaves:  Variously 
lobed  and  divided,  finely  toothed,  the  terminal  lobe  larger 
than  the  2  to  4  side  ones. 

Preferred  Habitat — Roadsides,  fields,  neglected  gardens. 

Flowering  Season — June — November. 

Distribution — Common  throughout  our  area  ;  naturalized  from 
Europe  and  Asia. 

"  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  which  a  man 
took  and  sowed  in  his  field  :  which  indeed  is  less  than  all  seeds  ;  but  when  it  is 
grown,  it  is  greater  than  the  herbs,  and  becometh  a  tree,  so  that  the  birds  of  the  air 
come  and  lodge  in  the  branches  thereof." 

300 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Commentators  differ  as  to  which  is  the  mustard  of  the  par- 
able— this  common  black  mustard,  or  a  rarer  shrub-like  tree 
(Salvador a  Persica),  with  an  equivalent  Arabic  name,  a  pungent 
odor,  and  a  very  small  seed.  Inasmuch  as  the  mustard  which  is 
systematically  planted  for  fodder  by  Old  World  farmers  grows 
with  the  greatest  luxuriance  in  Palestine,  and  the  comparison  be- 
tween the  size  of  its  seed  and  the  plant's  great  height  was  already 
proverbial  in  the  East  when  Jesus  used  it,  evidence  strongly 
favors  this  wayside  weed.  Indeed,  the  late  Dr.  Royle,  who  en- 
deavored to  prove  that  it  was  the  shrub  that  was  referred  to,  finally 
found  that  it  does  not  grow  in  Galilee. 

Now,  there  are  two  species  which  furnish  the  most  power- 
fully pungent  condiment  known  to  commerce  ;  but  the  tiny  dark 
brown  seeds  of  the  black  mustard  are  sharper  than  the  serpent's 
tooth,  whereas  the  pale  brown  seeds  of  the  White  Mustard,  often 
mixed  with  them,  are  far  more  mild.  The  latter  (Sinapis  alba)  is 
a  similar,  but  more  hairy,  plant,  with  slightly  larger  yellow  flowers. 
Its  pods  are  constricted  like  a  necklace  between  the  seeds. 

The  coarse  Hedge  Mustard  (Sisymbrium  officinale),  with 
rigid,  spreading  branches,  and  spikes  of  tiny  pale  yellow  flowers, 
quickly  followed  by  awl-shaped  pods  that  are  closely  appressed 
to  the  stem,  abounds  in  waste  places  throughout  our  area.  It 
blooms  from  May  to  November,  like  the  next  species. 

Another  common  and  most  troublesome  weed  from  Europe 
is  the  Field  or  Corn  Mustard,  Charlock  or  Field  Kale  (Brassica 
arvensis) — Sinapis  arvensis  of  Gray — found  in  grain  fields,  gar- 
dens, rich  waste  lands,  and  rubbish  heaps.  The  alternate  leaves, 
which  stand  boldly  out  from  the  stem,  are  oval,  coarsely  saw- 
toothed,  or  the  lower  ones  more  irregular,  and  lobed  at  their 
bases,  all  rough  to  the  touch,  and  conspicuously  veined.  The 
four-parted  yellow  flowers,  measuring  half  an  inch  or  more  across, 
have  six  stamens  (like  the  other  members  of  this  cross-bearing 
family),  containing  nectar  at  their  bases.  Two  of  them  are 
shorter  than  the  other  four.  Honey-bees,  ever  abundant,  the 
brilliant  Syrphidae  flies  which  love  yellow,  and  other  small 
visitors  after  pollen  and  nectar,  to  obtain  the  latter  insert  their 
tongues  between  the  stamens,  and  usually  cross-fertilize  the  flow- 
ers. In  stormy  weather,  when  few  insects  fly,  the  anthers  finally 
turn  their  pollen-covered  tips  upward  ;  then,  by  a  curvature  of 
the  tip  of  the  stamens,  they  are  brought  in  contact  with  the 
flower's  own  stigma  ;  for  it  is  obviously  better  that  even  self- 
fertilized  seed  should  be  set  than  none  at  all.  (See  Ladies'-smock, 
p.  189.)  "The  birds  of  the  air"  may  not  lodge  in  the  char- 
jock's  few  and  feeble  branches  ;  nevertheless  they  come  seek- 
ing the  mild  seeds  in  the  strongly  nerved,  smooth  pods  that 
spread  in  a  loose  raceme.  Domestic  pigeons  eat  the  seeds 
greedily. 

The  highly  intelligent  honey-bee,  which  usually  confines 

301 


Yellow  and  Orange 

itself  to  one  species  of  plant  on  its  flights,  apparently  does  not 
know  the  difference  between  the  field  mustard  and  the  Wild 
Radish,  or  Jointed  or  White  Charlock  (Raphanus  Raphanistrum) ; 
or,  knowing  it,  does  not  care  to  make  distinctions,  for  it  may  be 
seen  visiting  these  similar  flowers  indiscriminately.  At  first  the 
blossoms  of  the  radish  are  yellow,  but  they  quickly  fade  to  white, 
and  their  purplish  veins  become  more  conspicuous.  Rarely  the 
flowers  are  all  purplish.  The  entire  plant  is  rough  to  the  touch  ; 
the  leaves,  similar  to  those  .of  the  garden  radish,  are  deeply  cleft 
(lyrate-pinnatifid)  ;  the  seed  pods,  which  soon  follow  the 
flowers  up  the  spike,  are  nearly  cylindric  when  fresh,  but  become 
constricted  between  the  seeds,  as  they  dry,  until  each  little  pod 
looks  like  a  section  of  a  bead  necklace. 

The  Garden  Radish  of  the  market  (R.  sati-vus),  occasionally 
escaped  from  cultivation,  although  credited  to  China,  is  entirely 
unknown  in  its  native  state.  "It  has  long  been  held  in  high 
esteem,"  wrote  Peter  Henderson,  "and  before  the  Christian  era 
a  volume  was  written  on  this  plant  alone.  The  ancient  Greeks, 
in  offering  their  oblations  to  Apollo,  presented  turnips  in  lead, 
beets  in  silver,  and  radishes  in  vessels  of  beaten  gold."  Pliny 
describes  a  radish  eaten  in  Rome  as  being  so  transparent  one 
might  see  through  the  root.  It  was  not  until  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury that  the  plant  was  introduced  into  England.  Gerarde  men- 
tions cultivating  four  varieties  for  Queen  Elizabeth  in  Lord  Bur- 
leigh's  garden. 

The  Yellow  Rocket,  Herb  of  St.  Barbara,  Yellow  Bitter-cress, 
Winter-  or  Rocket-cress  (Barbarea  Barbarea) — B.  vulgaris  of 
Gray — sends  up  spikes  of  little  flowers  like  a  yellow  sweet  alys- 
sum  as  early  as  April,  and  continues  in  bloom  through  June. 
Smooth  pods  about  one  inch  long  quickly  follow.  The  thickish, 
shining,  tufted  leaves,'  very  like  the  familiar  water-cress  (Roripa 
Nasturtium},  were  formerly  even  more  commonly  eaten  as  a  salad. 
In  rich  but  dry  soil  the  plant  flourishes  from  Virginia  far  north- 
ward, locally  in  the  interior  of  the  United  States  and  on  the 
Pacific  Coast. 

Witch-hazel 

(Hamamelis  Virginiana)  Witch-hazel  family 

Flowers— Yellow,  fringy,  clustered  in  the  axils  of  branches.  Calyx 
4-parted  ;  4  very  narrow  curving  petals  about  ^  in.  long  ; 
4  short  stamens,  also  4  that  are  scale-like;  2  styles.  Stem: 
A  tall,  crooked  shrub.  Leaves:  Broadly  oval,  thick,  wavy- 
toothed,  mostly  fallen  at  flowering  time.  Fruit:  Woody 
capsules  maturing  the  next  season  and  remaining  with  flow- 
ers of  the  succeeding  year  (Hama  =  together  with  ;  mela  = 
fruit). 

302 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Preferred  Habitat—  Moist  woods  or  thickets  near  streams. 
Flowering  Season — August — December. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  and  Minnesota,  southward  to  the  Gulf 
States. 

To  find  a  stray  apple  blossom  among  the  fruit  in  autumn, 
or  an  occasional  violet  deceived  by  caressing  Indian  Summer  into 
thinking  another  spring  has  come,  surprises  no  one  ;  but  when 
the  witch-hazel  bursts  into  bloom  for  the  first  time  in  November, 
as  if  it  were  April,  its  leafless  twigs  conspicuous  in  the  gray 
woods  with  their  clusters  of  spidery  pale  yellow  flowers,  we 
cannot  but  wonder  with  Edward  Rowland  Sill : 

"  Has  time  grown  sleepy  at  his  post 

And  let  the  exiled  Summer  back  ? 
Or  is  it  her  regretful  ghost, 
Or  witchcraft  of  the  almanac  ?  " 

Not  to  the  blue  gentian  but  to  the  witch-hazel  should  Bryant 
have  addressed  at  least  the  first  stanza  of  his  familiar  lines  (p.  33). 
The  shrub  doubtless  gives  the  small  bees  and  flies  their  last  feast 
of  the  season  in  consideration  of  their  services  in  transferring 
pollen  from  the  staminate  to  the  fertile  flowers.  Very  siowly 
through  the  succeeding  year  the  seeds  within  the  woody  cap- 
sules mature  until,  by  the  following  autumn,  when  fresh  flowers 
appear,  they  are  ready  to  bombard  the  neighborhood  after  the 
violets'  method,  in  the  hope  of  landing  in  moist  yielding  soil  far 
from  the  parent  shrub  to  found  a  new  colony.  Just  as  a  water- 
melon seed  shoots  from  between  the  thumb  and  forefinger  pinch- 
ing it,  so  the  large,  bony,  shining  black,  white-tipped  witch- 
hazel  seeds  are  discharged  through  the  elastic  rupture  of  their 
capsule  whose  walls  pinch  them  out.  To  be  suddenly  hit  in  the 
face  by  such  a  missile  brings  no  smile  while  the  sting  lasts. 
Witch-hazel  twigs  ripening  indoors  transform  a  peaceful  living 
room  into  a  defenceless  target  for  light  artillery  practice. 

Nowhere  more  than  in  the  naming  of  wild  flowers  can  we 
trace  the  home-sickness  of  the  early  English  colonists  in  America. 
Any  plant  even  remotely  resembling  one  they  had  known  at 
home  was  given  the  dear  familiar  name.  Now  our  witch-hazel, 
named  for  an  English  hazel  tree  of  elm  lineage,  has  similar  leaves 
it  is  true,  but  likeness  stops  there  ;  nevertheless,  all  the  folk-lore 
clustered  about  that  mystic  tree  has  been  imported  here  with  the 
title.  By  the  help  of  the  hazel's  divining-rod  the  location  of  hid- 
den springs  of  water,  precious  ore,  treasure,  and  thieves  may  be 
revealed,  according  to  old  superstition.  Cornish  miners,  who  live 
in  a  land  so  plentifully  stored  with  tin  and  copper  lodes  they  can 
have  had  little  difficulty  in  locating  seams  of  ore  with  or  without 
a  hazel  rod,  scarcely  ever  sink  a  shaft  except  by  its  direction. 

303 


Yellow  and  Orange 

The  literature  of  Europe  is  filled  with  allusions  to  it.     Swift 
wrote ; 

"  They  tell  us  something  strange  and  odd 
About  a  certain  magic  rod 
That,  bending  down  its  top  divines 
Where'er  the  soil  has  hidden  mines  ; 
Where  there  are  none,  it  stands  erect 
Scorning  to  show  the  least  respect." 

A  good  story  is  told  on  Linnaeus  in  Baring-Gould's  "  Curious 
Myths  of  the  Middle  Ages  "  :  "  When  the  great  botanist  was  on 
one  of  his  voyages,  hearing  his  secretary  highly  extol  the  virtues 
of  his  divining-wand,  he  was  willing  to  convince  him  of  its  in- 
sufficiency, and  for  that  purpose  concealed  a  purse  of  one  hundred 
ducats  under  a  ranunculus,  which  grew  by  itself  in  a  meadow, 
and  bid  the  secretary  find  it  if  he  could.  The  wand  discovered 
nothing,  and  Linnaeus's  mark  was  soon  trampled  down  by  the 
company  present,  so  that  when  he  went  to  finish  the  experiment 
by  fetching  the  gold  himself,  he  was  utterly  at  a  loss  where  to  find 
it.  The  man  with  the  wand  assisted  him,  and  informed  him  that 
it  could  not  lie  in  the  way  they  were  going,  but  quite  the  con- 
trary ;  so  they  pursued  the  direction  of  the  wand,  and  actually 
dug  out  the  gold.  Linnaeus  said  that  another  such  experiment 
would  be  sufficient  to  make  a  proselyte  of  him." 

Many  a  well  has  been  dug  even  in  this  land  of  liberty  where 
our  witch-hazel  indicated  ;  but  here  its  kindly  magic  is  directed 
chiefly  through  the  soothing  extract  distilled  from  its  juices. 


Five-Finger;  Common  Cinquefoil 

(Potentilla  Canadensis)  Rose  family 

Flowers — Yellow,  l/i  to  l/2  in.  across,  growing  singly  on  long  pe- 
duncles from  the  leaf  axils.  Five  petals  longer  than  the  5 
acute  calyx  lobes  with  5  linear  bracts  between  them  ;  about 
20  stamens ;  pistils  numerous,  forming  a  head.  Stem :  Spread- 
ing over  ground  by  slender  runners  or  ascending.  Leaves  : 
5-fingered,  the  digitate,  saw-edged  leaflets  (rarely  3  or  4) 
spreading  from  a  common  point,  petioled  ;  some  in  a  tuft  at 
base. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Dry  fields,  roadsides,  hills,  banks. 

Flowering  Season — April — August. 

Distribution — Quebec  to  Georgia,  and  westward  beyond  the  Mis- 
sissippi. 

Every  one  crossing  dry  fields  in  the  eastern  United  States  and 
Canada  at  least  must  have  trod  on  a  carpet  of  cinquefoil  (cinque 
=five,feuilles= leaves),  and  have  noticed  the  bright  little  blossoms 
among  the  pretty  foliage,  possibly  mistaking  the  plant  for  its  cousin, 

304 


Yellow  and  Orange 

the  trefoliate  barren  strawberry  (see  p.  203).  Both  have  flowers  like 
miniature  wild  yellow  roses.  During  the  Middle  Ages,  when  mis- 
directed zeal  credited  almost  any  plant  with  healing  virtues  for 
every  ill  that  flesh  is  heir  to,  the  cinquefoils  were  considered  most 
potent  remedies,  hence  their  generic  name. 

The  Shrubby  Cinquefoil,  or  Prairie  Weed  (P.  fructicosa),  be- 
comes fairly  troublesome  in  certain  parts  of  its  range,  which  ex- 
tends from  Greenland  to  Alaska,  and  southward  to  New  Jersey, 
Arizona,  and  California,  as  well  as  over  northern  Europe  and  Asia. 
It  is  a  bushy,  much  branched,  and  leafy  shrub,  six  inches  to  four 
feet  high,  with  bright  yellow,  five-parted  flowers  an  inch  across, 
more  or  less,  either  solitary  or  in  cymes  at  the  tips  of  the  branches. 
They  appear  from  June  to  September.  The  honey-bee,  alighting 
in  the  centre  of  a  blossom  and  turning  around,  passes  its  tongue 
over  the  entire  nectar-bearing  ring  at  the  base  of  the  stamens,  then 
proceeding  to  another  flower  to  do  likewise,  effects  cross-fertiliza- 
tion regularly.  On  a  sunny  day  the  bright  blossoms  attract  many 
visitors  of  the  lower  grade  out  after  nectar  and  pollen,  the  beetles 
often  devouring  the  anthers  in  their  greed.  The  leaves  on  this 
cinquefoil  are  usually  compounded  of  one  terminal  and  four  side 
leaflets  that  are  narrowly  oblong,  an  inch  or  less  in  length,  and 
silky  hairy.  Sometimes  there  may  be  seven  leaflets  pinnately,  not 
digitately,  arranged.  Although  the  shrubby  cinquefoil  prefers 
swamps  and  moist,  rocky  places  to  dwell  in,  it  wisely  adapts  itself, 
as  globe-trotters  should,  to  whatever  conditions  it  meets. 

Silvery  or  Hoary  Cinquefoil  (P.  argentea),  found  in  dry  soil, 
blooming  from  May  to  September  from  Canada  to  Delaware, 
Indiana,  Kansas,  and  Dakota,  also  in  Europe  and  Asia,  has  yellow 
flowers  only  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  across,  but  foliage  of  special 
beauty.  From  the  tufted,  branching,  ascending  stems,  four  to 
twelve  inches  long,  the  finely  cleft,  five-foliate  leaves  are  spread 
on  foot  stems  that  diminish  in  size  as  they  ascend,  not  to  let  the 
upper  leaves  shut  off  the  light  from  the  lower  ones.  These  leaves 
are  smooth  and  green  above,  silvery  on  the  under  side,  with  fine 
white  hairs,  adapted  for  protection  from  excessive  sunlight  and 
too  rapid  transpiration  of  precious  moisture.  They  entirely  con- 
ceal the  sensitive  epidermis  from  which  they  grow. 


Yellow  Avens  ;   Field  Avens 

(Geum  strictum)  Rose  family 

Flowers — Golden  yellow,  otherwise  much  resembling  the  lower 

growing  white  avens  (page  204). 

Preferred  Habitat— -Low  ground,  moist  meadows,  swamps. 
Flowering  Season— June — August. 

Distribution — Pennsylvania,  Missouri,  and  Arizona,  far  northward. 
20  305 


Yellow  and  Orange 

After  the  marsh  marigolds  have  withdrawn  their  brightness 
from  low-lying  meadows,  blossoms  of  yellow  avens  twinkle  in 
their  stead.  In  autumn  the  jointed,  barbed  styles,  protruding 
from  the  seed  clusters,  steal  a  ride  by  the  same  successful  method 
of  travel  to  new  colonizing  ground  adopted  by  burdocks,  goose- 
grass,  tick-trefoils  (page  23),  agrimony,  and  a  score  of  other 
"tramps  of  the  vegetable  world." 


Tall  or  Hairy  Agrimony 

(Agrimonia  hirsutd)  Rose  family 
(A.  Eupatoria  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Yellow,  small,  5-parted,  in  narrow,  spike-like  racemes. 
Stem:  Usually  3  to  4  ft.  tall,  sometimes  less  or  more  clothed, 
with  long,  soft  hairs.  Leaves :  Large,  thin,  bright  green, 
compounded  of  (mostly)  7  principal  oblong,  coarsely  saw- 
edged  leaflets,  with  pairs  of  tiny  leaflets  between. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Woods,  thickets,  edges  of  fields. 

Flowering  Season — June — August. 

Distribution — North  Carolina,  westward  to  California,  and  far 
north. 

Quite  a  different  species,  not  found  in  this  country,  is  the 
common  European  Agrimony — A.  Eupatoria  of  Linnaeus — which 
figures  so  prominently  in  the  writings  of  mediaeval  herbalists  as  a 
cure-all.  Slender  spires  of  green  fruit  below  and  yellow  flowers 
above  curve  and  bend  at  the  borders  of  woodlands  here  appar- 
ently for  no  better  reason  than  to  enjoy  life.  Very  few  insects 
visit  them,  owing  to  the  absence  of  nectar — certainly  not  the 
highly  specialized  and  intelligent  "  Humble-Bee, "  to  whom  Emer- 
son addressed  the  lines: 

"  Succory  to  match  the  sky, 
Columbine  with  horn  of  honey, 
Scented  fern  and  agrimony, 
Clover,  catch-fly,  adder's-tongue, 
And  brier-roses,  dwelt  among." 

It  is  true  the  bumblebee  may  dwell  among  almost  any 
flowers,  but  he  has  decided  preferences  for  such  showy  ones  as 
have  adapted  themselves  to  please  his  love  of  certain  colors  (not 
yellow),  or  have  secreted  nectar  so  deeply  hidden  from  the  mob 
that  his  long  tongue  may  find  plenty  preserved  when  he  calls. 
Occasional  visitors  alighting  on  the  agrimony  for  pollen  may  dis- 
tribute some,  but  the  little  blossoms  chiefly  fertilize  themselves. 
When  crushed  they  give  forth  a  faint,  pleasant  odor.  Pretty, 
nodding  seed  urns,  encircled  with  a  rim  of  hooks,  grapple  the 

306 


Yellow  and  Orange 

clothing  of  man  or  beast  passing  their  way,  in  the  hope  of 
dropping  off  in  a  suitable  place  to  found  another  colony. 


Sensitive  Pea;  Wild  or  Small-flowered  Sen- 
sitive Plant 

(Cassia  nictitans)  Senna  family 

Flowers — Yellow,  regular,  ^-parted,  about  ^  in.  across  ;  2  or  3 
together  in  the  axils.  Stem :  Weak,  6  to  15  in.  tall,  branch- 
ing, leafy.  Leaves:  Alternate,  sensitive,  compounded  of  12 
to  44  small,  narrowly  oblong  leaflets  ;  a  cup-shaped  gland 
below  lowest  pair  ;  stipules  persistent.  Fruit :  A  pod,  an 
inch  long  or  more,  containing  numerous  seeds. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Dry  fields,  sandy  wasteland,  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — j  uly — October. 

Distribution — New  England  westward  to  Indiana,  south  to  Georgia 
and  Texas. 

How  many  of  us  ever  pause  to  test  the  sensitiveness  of  this 
exquisite  foliage  that  borders  the  roadsides,  and  in  appearance  is 
almost  identical  with  the  South  American  sensitive  plant's,  so 
commonly  cultivated  in  hothouses  here  ?  Failing  to  see  its  fine 
little  leaflets  fold  together  instantly  when  brushed  with  the  hand, 
as  they  do  in  the  tropical  species  (Mimosa  pudica),  many  pass  on, 
concluding  its  title  a  misnomer.  By  simply  touching  the  leaves, 
however  roughly,  only  a  tardy  and  slight  movement  follows.  A 
sharp  blow  produces  quicker  effect,  while  if  the  whole  plant  be 
shaken  by  forcibly  snapping  the  stem  with  the  finger,  all  the 
leaves  will  be  strongly  affected  ;  their  sensitiveness  being  appar- 
ently more  aroused  by  vibration  through  jarring  than  by  contact 
with  foreign  bodies.  The  leaves,  which  ordinarily  spread  out 
flat,  partly  close  in  bright  sunshine  and  "go  to  sleep"  at  night, 
not  to  expose  their  sensitive  upper  surfaces  to  fierce  heat  in  the 
first  case,  and  to  cold  by  radiation  in  the  second.  "Lifeless 
things  may  be  moved  or  acted  on,"  says  Asa  Gray;  "living 
beings  move  and  act — plants  less  conspicuously,  but  no  less 
really  than  animals.  In  sharing  the  mysterious  gift  of  life  they 
share  some  of  its  simpler  powers." 

The  Partridge  Pea  or  Large-flowered  Sensitive  Plant  (C. 
Chamaecrista)  likewise  goes  to  sleep;  the  ten  to  fifteen  pairs  of 
leaflets  which,  with  a  terminal  one,  make  up  each  pinnate  leaf, 
slowly  turning  their  outer  edges  uppermost  after  sunset,  and  over- 
lapping as  they  flatten  themselves  against  their  common  stem 
until  the  entire  aspect  of  the  plant  is  changed.  By  day  the  ex- 
panded foliage  is  feathery,  fine,  acacia-like  ;  at  night  the  bushy, 

307 


Yellow  and  Orange 

branching,  spreading  plant,  that  measures  only  a  foot  or  two 
high,  appears  to  produce  nothing  but  pods.  These  leaves  re- 
spond slowly  to  vibration,  just  as  the  sensitive  pea's  do.  In  spite 
of  their  names,  neither  produces  the  butterfly-shaped  (papiliona- 
ceous) blossom  of  true  peas.  The  partridge  pea  bears  from  two 
to  four  showy  flowers  together,  each  measuring  an  inch  or  more 
across,  on  a  slender  pedicel  from  the  axils.  It  fully  expands  only 
four  of  its  five  bright  yellow  petals  ;  they  are  somewhat  unequal 
in  size,  the  upper  ones,  with  touches  of  red  at  the  base,  as  path- 
finders, not,  however,  as  nectar-guides,  since  no  sweets  are  se- 
creted here.  Curiously  enough,  both  right  and  left  hand  flowers 
are  found  upon  the  same  plant  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  sickle-shaped 
pistil  turns  either  to  the  right  or  the  left.  One  lateral  petal,  in- 
stead of  being  flexible  and  spread  like  the  rest,  stands  so  stiffly 
erect  and  incurved  that  it  commonly  breaks  on  being  bent  back. 
Why  ?  The  pistil,  it  will  be  noticed,  points  away  from  the  ten 
long  black  anthers.  Obviously,  then,  the  flower  cannot  fertilize  it- 
self. Its  benefactors  are  bumblebee  females  and  workers  out  after 
pollen.  Cup-shaped  nectaries  ("extra  nuptial")  are  situated 
on  the  upper  side  and  near  the  base  of  the  leaf  stalks  on  these 
cassia  plants,  where  they  can  have  no  direct  influence  on  the 
fertilization  of  the  blossoms.  Apparently,  they  are  free  lunch- 
counters,  kept  open  out  of  pure  charity.  Landing  upon  the 
long  black  anthers  with  pores  in  their  tips  to  let  out  the  pollen, 
the  bumblebees  "seize  them  between  their  mandibles,"  says 
Professor  Robertson,  "and  stroke  them  downward  with  a  sort 
of  milking  motion.  The  pollen  .  .  .  falls  either  directly 
upon  the  bee  or  upon  the  erect  lateral  petal  which  is  pressed  close 
against  the  bee's  side.  In  this  way  the  side  of  the  bee  which  is 
next  to  the  incurved  petal  receives  the  most  pollen.  ...  A 
bee  visiting  a  left-hand  flower  receives  pollen  upon  the  right  side, 
and  then  flying  to  a  right-hand  flower,  strikes  the  same  side 
against  the  stigma."  When  we  find  circular  holes  in  these  petals 
we  may  know  the  leaf-cutter  or  upholsterer  bee  (Megachile  brevis) 
has  been  at  work  collecting  roofs  for  her  nurseries  (see  page  61). 
The  partridge  pea,  which  has  a  more  westerly  range  than  the 
sensitive  pea's,  extends  it  southward  even  to  Bolivia.  Game 
birds,  migrants  and  rovers,  which  feed  upon  the  seeds,  have  of 
course  helped  in  their  wider  distribution.  The  plant  blooms  from 
July  to  September. 


Wild  or  American  Senna 

(Cassia  Maryla-ndicd)  Senna  family 

flowers — Yellow,  about  %  in.  broad,  numerous,  in  short  axillary 
clusters  on  the  upper  part  of  plant.    Calyx  of  5  oblong  lobes ; 
308 


Yellow  and  Orange 

5  petals,  3  forming  an  upper  lip,  2  a  lower  one;  10  stamens 
of  3  different  kinds;  i  pistil.  Stem:  3  to  8  ft.  high,  little 
branched.  Leaves:  Alternate,  pinnately  compounded  of  6  to 
10  pairs  of  oblong  leaflets.  Fruit:  A  narrow,  flat  curving 
pod,  3  to  4  in.  long. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Alluvial  or  moist,  rich  soil,  swamps,  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — July — August. 

Distribution — New  England,  westward  to  Nebraska,  south  to  the 
Gulf  States. 

Whoever  has  seen  certain  Long  Island  roadsides  bordered 
with  wild  senna,  the  brilliant  flower  clusters  contrasted  with  the 
deep  green  of  the  beautiful  foliage,  knows  that  no  effect  produced 
by  art  along  the  drives  of  public  park  or  private  garden  can  match 
these  country  lanes  in  simple  charm.  Bumblebees,  buzzing 
about  the  blossoms,  may  be  observed  "milking"  the  anthers 
just  as  they  do  those  of  the  partridge  pea.  No  red  spots  on  any 
of  these  petals  guide  the  visitors,  as  in  the  previous  species, 
however;  for  do  not  the  three  small,  dark  stamens,  which  are 
reduced  to  mere  scales,  answer  every  purpose  as  pathfinders 
here?  The  stigma,  turned  sometimes  to  the  right,  sometimes  to 
the  left,  strikes  the  bee  on  the  side;  the  senna  being  what 
Delpino,  the  Italian  botanist,  calls  a  pleurotribe  flower. 

While  leaves  of  certain  African  and  East  Indian  species  of 
senna  are  most  valued  for  their  medicinal  properties,  those  of  this 
plant  are  largely  collected  in  the  Middle  and  Southern  States  as  a 
substitute.  Caterpillars  of  several  sulphur  butterflies,  which 
live  exclusively  on  cassia  foliage,  appear  to  feel  no  evil  effects 
from  overdoses. 


Wild   Indigo;  Yellow  or  Indigo   Broom; 
Horsefly-Weed 

(Baptism  tinctoria)  Pea  family 

Flowers — Bright  yellow,  papilionaceous,  about  ^  in.  long,  on  short 
pedicels,  in  numerous  but  few  flowered  terminal  racemes. 
Calyx  light  green,  4  or  ^-toothed ;  corolla  of  5  oblong  petals, 
the  standard  erect,  the  keel  enclosing  10  incurved  stamens 
and  i  pistil.  Stem:  Smooth,  branched,  2  to  4  ft.  high. 
Leaves:  Compounded  of  3  ovate  leaflets.  Fruit:  A  many- 
seeded  round  or  egg-shaped  pod  tipped  with  the  awl-shaped 
style. 

Preferred  Habifat—Dry,  sandy  soil. 

Fknvering  Season— J une — September. 

Distribution— Maine  and  Minnesota  to  the  Gulf  States. 

309 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Dark  grayish  green,  clover-like  leaves,  and  small,  bright 
yellow  flowers  growing  in  loose  clusters  at  the  ends  of  the 
branches  of  a  bushy  little  plant,  are  so  commonly  met  with  they 
need  little  description.  A  relative,  the  true  indigo-bearer,  a 
native  of  Asia,  once  commonly  grown  in  the  Southern  States 
when  slavery  made  competition  with  Oriental  labor  possible,  has 
locally  escaped  and  become  naturalized.  But  the  false  species, 
although,  as  Dr.  Gray  says,  it  yields  "a  poor  sort  of  indigo," 
yields  a  most  valuable  medicine  employed  by  the  homceopathists 
in  malarial  fevers.  The  plant  turns  black  in  drying.  As  in  the 
case  of  other  papilionaceous  blossoms,  bees  are  the  visitors  best 
adapted  to  fertilize  the  flowers.  When  we  see  the  little,  sleepy, 
dusky- winged  butterfly  (Thanaos  bri^o)  around  the  plant  we  may 
know  she  is  there  only  to  lay  eggs,  that  the  larvae  and  caterpillars 
may  find  their  favorite  food  at  hand  on  waking  into  life. 


Rattle- Box 

(Crotalaria  sagittalis)  Pea  family 

Flowers — Yellow,  ^  in.  long  or  less,  usually  only  2  or  3  on  a  long 
peduncle.  Calyx  5-toothed,  slightly  2-lipped  ;  corolla  papili- 
onaceous. Stem:  3  to  10  in.  high,  weak,  hairy.  Leaves: 
Alternate,  simple,  oval  to  lance-shaped  ;  stipules  arrow- 
shaped  above  and  running  along  stem.  Fruit :  An  inflated 
oblong  pod  i  in.  long,  blackish,  seedy. 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry,  sandy,  open  situations. 

Flowering  Season — June — September. 

Distribution — New  England  and  Minnesota  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

These  insignificant  little  yellow  flowers  attract  scant  notice 
from  human  observers  accustomed  to  associate  their  generic  name 
with  some  particularly  beautiful  relatives  from  the  West  Indies 
grown  in  hothouses  here.  But  did  not  small  bees  alight  on  the 
keel  and  depress  it,  as  in  the  lupine,  next  of  kin  (see  p.  22),  there 
might  be  no  seeds  to  rattle  in  the  dark  inflated  pods  that  so  de- 
light children.  (Krotalon=a  Castanet.) 


Yellow  Sweet  Clover;  Yellow  Melilot 

(Melilotus  officinalis)  Pea  family 

Resembling  the  white  sweet  clover,  except  in  color.     (See 
p.  208.) 

310 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Yellow  or  Hop  Clover 

(Trifolium  agrarium)  Pea  family 

Flowers — Yellow,  scale-like,  overlapping  in  a  densely  many-flow- 
ered oblong  head  about  Y*  in.  long,  becoming  brown  with 
age.  Stem:  Ascending,  branched,  6  to  18  in.  high.  Leaves; 
3-foliate,  very  finely  toothed. 

Preferred  Habitat — Waste  places,  fields,  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — May — September. 

Distribution — Virginia  to  Iowa,  and  far  northward. 

What  did  the  sulphur  butterflies  provide  as  food  for  their 
caterpillar  babies  before  the  commonest  clovers  came  over  from  the 
Old  World  to  possess  the  soil  ?  Wherever  a  trifolium  grows,  there 
one  is  sure  to  see 

"  Sallow-yellow  butterflies, 
Like  blooms  of  lorn  primroses  blowing  loose, 
When  autumn  winds  arise." 

The  Blackseed  Hop  Clover,  Black  or  Hop  Medic  (Medicago 
lupulina),  with  even  smaller,  bright  yellow  oblong  heads  which 
turn  black  when  ripe,  lies  on  the  ground,  its  branches  spreading 
where  they  leave  the  root.  A  native  of  Europe  and  Asia,  it  is  now 
distributed  as  a  common  weed  throughout  our  area,  for  there  is 
scarcely  a  month  in  the  year  when  it  does  not  bloom  and  set  seed. 
It  is  still  another  of  the  many  plants  known  as  the  shamrock. 


Yellow  Wood-sorrel;  Lady's  Sorrel 

(Oxalis  strictd)  Wood-sorrel  family 

Flowers — Golden,  fragrant,  in  long  peduncled,  small,  terminal 
groups.  Calyx  of  5  sepals ;  corolla  of  5  petals,  usually  reddish 
at  base  ;  stamens,  10  ;  i  pistil  with  5  styles  ;  followed  by 
slender  pods.  Stem:  Pale,  erect,  3  to  12  in.  high,  the  sap 
sour.  Leaves :  Palmately  compound,  of  3  heart-shaped, 
clover-like  leaflets  on  long  petioles. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Open  woodlands,  waste  or  cultivated  soil,  road- 
sides. 

Flowering  Season — April — October. 

Distribution— Nova  Scotia  and  Dakota  westward  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico. 

An  extremely  common  little  weed,  whose  peculiarly  sensitive 
leaves  children  delight  to  set  in  motion  by  rubbing,  or  to  chew  for 
the  sour  juice.  Concerning  the  night  "sleep"  of  wood-sorrel 
leaves  and  the  two  kinds  of  flowers  these  plants  bear,  see  pages 
107  to  1 10. 

y.\ 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Wild  or  Slender  Yellow  Flax 

(Linum  Virginianum)  Flax  family 

Flowers — Yellow,  about  y>>  in.  across,  each  from  a  leaf  axil,  scat- 
tered along  the  slender  branches.  Sepals,  5  ;  5  petals,  5 
stamens.  Stem  :  i  to  2  ft.  high,  branching,  leafy.  Leaves  : 
Alternate,  seated  on  the  stem;  small,  oblong,  or  lance- 
shaped,  i  nerved. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Dry  woodlands  and  borders  ;  shady  places. 

Flowering  Season — June — August. 

Distribution — New  England  to  Georgia. 

Certainly  in  the  Atlantic  States  this  is  the  commonest  of  its 
slender,  dainty  tribe  ;  but  in  bogs  and  swamps  farther  southward 
and  westward  to  Texas  the  Ridged  Yellow  Flax  (L.  striatum), 
with  leaves  arranged  opposite  each  other  up  to  the  branches  and 
an  angled  stem  so  sticky  it  "adheres  to  paper  in  which  it  is 
dried,"  takes  its  place. 

"  Blue  were  her  eyes  as  the  fairy  flax," 

wrote  Longfellow,  as  if  blue  flax  were  a  familiar  sight  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  charming  little  European  plant  (L.  usi- 
tatissimum] ,  which  has  furnished  the  fibre  for  linen  and  the  oily 
seeds  for  poultices  from  time  immemorial,  is  only  a  fugitive  from 
cultivation  here.  Unhappily,  it  is  rarely  met  with  along  the 
roadsides  and  railways  as  it  struggles  to  gain  a  foothold  in  our 
waste  places.  Possibly  Longfellow  had  in  mind  the  blue  toad 
flax  (p.  51). 


Jewel-weed;  Spotted  Touch-me-not;  Silver 
Cap ;  Wild  Balsam  ;  Lady's  Eardrops  ;  Snap 
Weed;  Wild  Lady's  Slipper 

(Impatient  biflora)  Jewel-weed  family 
(/.  fulva  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Orange  yellow,  spotted  with  reddish-brown,  irregular, 
i  in.  long  or  less,  horizontal,  2  to  4  pendent  by  slender 
footstalks  on  a  long  peduncle  from  leaf  axils.  Sepals,  3, 
colored;  i  large,  sac-shaped,  contracted  into  a  slender  in- 
curved spur  and  2-toothed  at  apex  ;  2  other  sepals  small. 
Petals,  3  ;  2  of  them  2-cleft  into  dissimilar  lobes  ;  5  short 
stamens,  i  pistil.  Stem ;  2  to  5  ft.  high,  smooth,  branched, 
colored,  succulent.  Leaves:  Alternate,  thin,  pale  beneath, 
312 


Yellow  and  Orange 

ovate,  coarsely  toothed,  petioled.    Fruit:  An  oblong  capsule, 
its  5  valves  opening  elastically  to  expel  the  seeds. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Beside  streams,  ponds,  ditches ;  moist  ground. 

Flowering  Season — July — October. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Oregon,  south  to  Missouri  and  Florida. 

These  exquisite,  bright  flowers,  hanging  at  a  horizontal,  like 
jewels  from  a  lady's  ear,  may  be  responsible  for  the  plant's  folk 
name  ;  but  whoever  is  abroad  early  on  a  dewy  morning,  or  after 
a  shower,  and  finds  notched  edges  of  the  drooping  leaves  hung 
with  scintillating  gems,  dancing,  sparkling  in  the  sunshine,  sees 
still  another  reason  for  naming  this  the  jewel-weed.  In  a  brook, 
pond,  spring,  or  wayside  trough,  which  can  never  be  far  from  its 
haunts,  dip  a  spray  of  the  plant  to  transform  the  leaves  into  glis- 
tening silver.  They  shed  water  much  as  the  nasturtium's  do. 

When  the  tiny  ruby-throated  humming  bird  flashes  north- 
ward out  of  the  tropics  to  spend  the  summer,  where  can  he  hope 
to  find  nectar  so  deeply  secreted  that  not  even  the  long-tongued 
bumblebee  may  rob  him  of  it  all  ?  Beyond  the  bird's  bill  his 
tongue  can  be  run  out  and  around  curves  no  other  creature  can 
reach.  Now  the  early  blooming  columbine,  its  slender  cornu- 
copias brimming  with  sweets,  welcomes  the  messenger  whose 
needle-like  bill  will  carry  pollen  from  flower  to  flower  ;  presently 
the  coral  honeysuckle  and  the  scarlet  painted-cup  attract  him  by 
wearing  his  favorite  color  ;  next  the  jewel-weed  hangs  horns  of 
plenty  to  lure  his  eye  ;  and  the  trumpet  vine  and  cardinal 
flower  continue  to  feed  him  successively  in  Nature's  garden; 
albeit  cannas,  nasturtiums,  salvia,  gladioli,  and  such  deep,  irregu- 
lar showy  flowers  in  men's  flower  beds  sometimes  lure  him 
away.  These  are  bird  flowers  dependent  in  the  main  on  the 
ruby-throat,  which  is  not  to  say  that  insects  never  enter  them, 
for  they  do  ;  only  they  are  not  the  visitors  catered  to.  Watch 
the  big,  velvety  bumblebee  approach  a  roomy  jewel-weed  blos- 
som and  nearly  disappear  within.  The  large  bunch  of  united 
stamens,  suspended  directly  over  the  entrance,  bears  copious 
white  pollen.  So  much  comes  off  on  his  back  that  after  visiting 
a  flower  or  two  he  becomes  annoyed  ;  clings  to  a  leaf  with  his 
fore  legs  while  he  thoroughly  brushes  his  back  and  wings  with 
his  middle  and  hind  pairs,  and  then  collects  the  sticky  grains  into 
a  wad  on  his  feet  which  he  presently  kicks  off  with  disgust  to 
the  ground.  Examine  a  jewel-weed  blossom  to  see  that  the 
clumsy  bumblebee's  pollen-laden  back  is  not  so  likely  to  come  in 
contact  with  the  short  five-parted  stigma  concealed  beneath  the 
stamens,  as  a  humming  bird's  slender  bill  that  is  thrust  obliquely 
into  the  spur  while  he  hovers  above. 

But,  as  if  the  plant  had  not  sufficient  confidence  in  its  visitors 
to  rely  exclusively  on  them  for  help  in  continuing  the  lovely 
species,  it  bears  also  cleistogamous  blossoms  that  never  open — 

313 


Yellow  and  Orange 

economical  products  without  petals,  which  ripen  abundant  self- 
fertilized  seed  (see  p.  108).  It  is  calculated  that  each  jewel-weed 
blossom  produces  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  pollen  grains  ; 
yet  each  is  by  no  means  able  to  produce  seed  in  spite  of  its 
prodigality.  Nevertheless,  enough  cross-fertilized  seed  is  set  to 
save  the  species  from  the  degeneracy  that  follows  close  inbreed- 
ing among  plants  as  well  as  animals.  In  England,  where  this 
jewel-weed  is  rapidly  becoming  naturalized,  Darwin  recorded 
there  are  twenty  plants  producing  cleistogamous  flowers  to  one 
having  showy  blossoms  which,  even  when  produced,  seldom  set 
seed.  What  more  likely,  since  humming  birds  are  confined  to  the 
New  World  ?  Therefore  why  should  the  plant  waste  its  energy 
on  a  product  useless  in  England  ?  It  can  never  attain  perfection 
there  until  humming  birds  are  imported,  as  bumblebees  had  to  be 
into  Australia  before  the  farmers  could  harvest  seed  from  their 
clover  fields  (p.  101). 

Familiar  as  we  may  be  with  the  nervous  little  seed  pods  of 
the  touch-me-not,  which  children  ever  love  to  pop  and  see  the 
seeds  fly,  as  they  do  from  balsam  pods  in  grandmother's  garden, 
they  still  startle  with  the  suddenness  of  their  volley.  Touch  the 
delicate  hair-trigger  at  the  end  of  a  capsule,  and  the  lightning 
response  of  the  flying  seeds  makes  one  jump.  They  sometimes 
land  four  feet  away.  At  this  rate  of  progress  a  year,  and  with 
the  other  odds  against  which  all  plants  have  to  contend,  how 
many  generations  must  it  take  to  fringe  even  one  mill  pond  with 
jewel-weed;  yet  this  is  rapid  transit  indeed  compared  with  many 
of  Nature's  processes.  The  plant  is  a  conspicuous  sufferer  from 
the  dodder  (see  p.  246). 


The  Pale  Touch-me-not  (/.  atirea)—/.  pallida  of  Gray — most 
abundant  northward,  a  larger,  stouter  species  found  in  similar 
situations,  but  with  paler  yellow  flowers  only  sparingly  dotted  if 
at  all,  has  its  broader  sac-shaped  sepal  abruptly  contracted  into  a 
short,  notched,  but  not  incurved  spur.  It  snares  its  sister's  popu- 
lar names. 


Velvet  Leaf;  Indian  Mallow;  American  Jute 

(Abutilon  Abulilon)  Mallow  family 
(A.  Avicennae  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Deep  yellow,  %  to  #  in.  broad,  s-parted,  regular,  solitary 
on  stout  peduncles  from  the  leaf  axils.  Stem:  3  to  6  ft.  high, 
velvety,  branched.  Leaves:  Soft  velvety,  heart-shaped,  the 
lobes  rounded,  long  petioled.  Fruit:  In  a  head  about  i  in. 


Yellow  and  Orange 

across,  12  to  15  erect  hairy  carpels,  with  spreading  sharp 

beaks. 
Preferred  Habitat—  Escaped  from  cultivation  to  waste  sandy  loam, 

fields,  roadsides. 

flowering  Season — August — October. 
Distribution — Common  or  frequent,  except  at  the  extreme  North. 

There  was  a  time,  not  many  years  ago,  when  this  now  com- 
mon and  often  troublesome  weed  was  imported  from  India  and 
tenderly  cultivated  in  flower  gardens.  In  the  Orient  it  and  allied 
species  are  grown  for  their  fibre,  which  is  utilized  for  cordage  and 
cloth  ;  but  the  equally  valuable  plant  now  running  wild  here  has 
yet  to  furnish  American  men  with  a  profitable  industry.  Although 
the  blossom  is  next  of  kin  to  the  veiny  Chinese  bell-flower,  or 
striped  abutilon,  so  common  in  greenhouses,  its  appearance  is 
quite  different. 


St.  Andrew's  Cross 

(Ascyrum  hypericoides)  St.  John's-wort  family 
(A.  Crux-Andreae  of  Gray) 

flowers — Yellow,  ^  to  ^  in.  across,  terminal  and  from  the  leaf 
axils.  Calyx  of  4  sepals  in  2  pairs  ;  4  narrow,  oblong  petals; 
stamens  numerous  ;  2  styles.  Stem :  Much  branched  and 
spreading  from  base,  5  to  10  in.  high,  leafy.  Leaves:  Oppo- 
site, oblong,  small,  seated  on  stem. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Dry,  sandy  soil ;  pine  barrens. 

Flowering  Season — July — August. 

Distribution — Nantucket  Island  (Mass.),  westward  to  Illinois,  south 
to  Florida  and  Texas. 

Because  the  four  pale  yellow  petals  of  this  flower  approach 
each  other  in  pairs,  suggesting  a  cross  with  equals  arms,  the  plant 
was  given  its  name  by  Linnaeus  in  1753.  St.  Peter's-wort  {A. 
sfans),  a  similar  plant,  found  in  the  same  localities,  in  bloom  at 
the  same  time,  has  larger  flowers  in  small  clusters  at  the  tips  only 
of  its  upright  branches. 


Common  St.  John's-wort 

(Hypericum  perforatum)  St.  John's-wort  family 

Flowers — Bright  yellow,  I  in.  across  or  less,  several  or  many  in 
terminal  clusters.  Calyx  of  5  lance-shaped  sepals;  5  petals 
dotted  with  black;  numerous  stamens  in  3  sets;  3  styles. 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Stem:  i  to  2  ft.  high,  erect,  much  branched.    Leaves:  Small, 

opposite,  oblong,  more  or  less  black-dotted. 
Preferred  Habitat— Y\z\te,  waste  lands,  roadsides. 
f/mvering  Season — June — September. 
Distribution — Throughout  our  area,  except  the  extreme  North; 

Europe,  and  Asia. 

"Gathered  upon  a  Friday,  in  the  hour  of  Jupiter  when  he 
comes  to  his  operation,  so  gathered,  or  borne,  or  hung  upon  the 
neck,  it  mightily  helps  to  drive  away  all  phantastical  spirits." 
These  are  the  blossoms  which  have  been  hung  in  the  windows 
of  European  peasants  for  ages  on  St.  John's  eve,  to  avert  the  evil 
eye  and  the  spells  of  the  spirits  of  darkness.  "Devil  chaser"  its 
Italian  name  signifies.  To  cure  demoniacs,  to  ward  off  destruc- 
tion by  lightning,  to  reveal  the  presence  of  witches,  and  to 
expose  their  nefarious  practices,  are  some  of  the  virtues  ascribed 
to  this  plant,  which  superstitious  farmers  have  spared  from  the 
scythe  and  encouraged  to  grow  near  their  houses  until  it  has 
become,  even  in  this  land  of  liberty,  a  troublesome  weed  at 
times.  "The  flower  gets  its  name,"  says  F.  Schuyler  Mathews, 
"from  the  superstition  that  on  St.  John's  day,  the  24th  of  June, 
the  dew  which  fell  on  the  plant  the  evening  before  was  efficacious 
in  preserving  the  eyes  from  disease.  So  the  plant  was  collected, 
dipped  in  oil,  and  t'hus  transformed  into  a  balm  for  every  wound." 
Here  it  is  a  naturalized,  not  a  native,  immigrant.  A  blooming 
plant,  usually  with  many  sterile  shoots  about  its  base,  has  an 
unkempt,  untidy  look;  the  seed  capsules  and  the  brown  petals 
of  withered  flowers  remaining  among  the  bright  yellow  buds 
through  a  long  season.  No  nectar  is  secreted  by  the  St.  John's- 
worts,  therefore  only  pollen  collectors  visit  them  regularly,  and 
occasionally  cross-fertilize  the  blossoms,  which  are  best  adapted, 
however,  to  pollinate  themselves. 


The  Shrubby  St.  John's-wort  (H.  prolificutri)  bears  yellow 
blossoms,  about  half  an  inch  across,  which  are  provided  with 
stamens  so  numerous,  the  many  flowered  terminal  clusters  have  a 
soft,  feathery  effect.  In  the  axils  of  the  oblong,  opposite  leaves 
are  tufts  of  smaller  ones,  the  stout  stems  being  often  concealed 
under  a  wealth  of  foliage.  Sandy  or  rocky  places  from  New 
Jersey  southward  best  suit  this  low,  dense,  diffusely  branched 
shrub  which  blooms  prolifically  from  July  to  September. 

Farther  north,  and  westward  to  Iowa,  the  Great  or  Giant  St. 
John's-wort  (H.  Ascyron)  brightens  the  banks  of  streams  at  mid- 
summer with  large  blossoms,  each  on  a  long  footstalk  in  a  few- 
flowered  cluster. 


316 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Long-branched   Frost-weed  ;  Frost-flower  ; 
Frost-wort;  Canadian   Rock-rose 

(Helianthemum  Canadense)  Rock-rose  family 

Flowers — Solitary,  or  rarely  2;  about  i  in.  across,  5-parted,  with 
showy  yellow  petals ;  the  5  unequal  sepals  hairy.  Also 
abundant  small  flowers  lacking  petals,  produced  from  the 
axils  later.  Stem:  Erect,  3  in.  to  2  ft.  high;  at  first  simple, 
later  with  elongated  branches.  Leaves:  Alternate,  oblong, 
almost  seated  on  stem. 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry  fields,  sandy  or  rocky  soil. 

Flowering  Season — Petal-bearing  flowers,  May — July. 

Distribution — New  England  to  the  Carolinas,  westward  to  Wis- 
consin and  Kentucky. 

Only  for  a  day,  and  that  must  be  a  bright  sunny  one,  does  the 
solitary  frost-flower  expand  its  delicate  yellow  petals.  On  the 
next,  after  pollen  has  been  brought  to  it  by  insect  messengers 
and  its  own  carried  away,  the  now  useless  petal  advertisements 
fall,  and  the  numerous  stamens,  inserted  upon  the  receptacle 
with  them,  also  drop  off,  leaving  the  club-shaped  pistil  to  develop 
with  the  ovary  into  a  rounded,  ovoid,  three-valved  capsule. 
Notice  how  flat  the  stamens  lie  upon  the  petals  to  keep  safely 
out  of  reach  of  the  stigma.  Another  flower,  exactly  like  the  first, 
now  expands,  and  the  bloom  continues  for  weeks.  Why  does 
only  one  blossom  open  at  a  time  ?  Because  the  whole  aim  of  the 
showy  flowers  is  to  set  cross-fertilized  seed,  and  when  only  one 
at  a  time  appears,  pollination  not  only  between  distinct  blossoms 
but  between  distinct  plants  insures  the  healthiest,  most  vigorous 
offspring — a  wise  precaution  against  degeneracy,  in  view  of  the 
quantities  of  self-fertilized  seed  that  will  be  set  late  in  summer  by 
the  tiny  apetalous  flowers  that  never  open  (see  p.  108).  Surely 
two  kinds  of  blossoms  should  be  enough  for  any  species;  but 
why  call  this  the  frost-flower  when  its  bloom  is  ended  by 
autumn  ?  Only  the  witch-hazel  may  be  said  to  flower  for  the 
first  time  after  frost.  When  the  stubble  in  the  dry  fields  is  white 
some  cold  November  morning,  comparatively  few  notice  the  ice 
crystals,  like  specks  of  glistening  quartz,  at  the  base  of  the  stems 
of  this  plant.  The  similar  Hoary  Frost-weed  (H.  wajus),  whose 
showy  flowers  appear  in  clusters  at  the  hoary  stem's  summit,  in 
June  and  July,  also  bears  them.  Often  this  ice  formation  assumes 
exquisite  feathery,  whimsical  forms,  bursting  the  bark  asunder 
where  an  astonishing  quantity  of  sap  gushes  forth  and  freezes. 
Indeed,  so  much  sap  sometimes  goes  to  the  making  of  this  crystal 
flower,  that  it  would  seem  as  if  an  extra  reservoir  in  the  soil  must 
pump  some  up  to  supply  it  with  its  large  fantastic  corolla. 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Beach  or  False  Heather;  Poverty  Grass 

(Hudsonia  tomentosa)  Rock-rose  family 

Flowers — Bright  yellow,  small,  about  5^  in.  across,  numerous, 
closely  ascending  the  upper  part  of  the  heath-like  branches. 
Sepals  5,  unequal;  5  petals;  stamens,  9  to  18.  Stem:  4  to  8 
in.  tall,  tufted,  densely  branched  and  matted,  hoary  hairy, 
pale.  Leaves:  Overlapping  like  scales,  very  small. 

Preferred  Habitat — Sands  of  the  seashore,  pine  barrens,  beaches  of 
rivers  and  lakes. 

Flowering  Season — May — July. 

Distribution — New  Brunswick  to  Maryland,  west  to  Lake  of  the 
Woods. 

Like  the  showy  flowers  of  the  frost- weed,  these  minute  ones 
open  in  the  sunshine  only,  and  then  but  for  a  single  day.  Never- 
theless, the  hoary,  heath-like  little  shrub,  by  growing  in  large 
colonies  and  keeping  up  a  succession  of  bright  bloom,  tinges  the 
sand  dunes  back  of  the  beach  with  charming  color  that  artists 
delight  to  paint  in  the  foreground  of  their  marine  pictures. 

Yellow  Violets 

(Viola)  Violet  family 

Fine  hairs  on  the  erect,  leafy,  usually  single  stem  of  the 
Downy  Yellow  Violet  (V.  pubescens],  whose  dark  veined,  bright 
yellow  petals  gleam  in  dry  woods  in  April  and  May,  easily  dis- 
tinguish it  from  the  Smooth  Yellow  Violet  (V.  scabriuscula), 
formerly  considered  a  mere  variety  in  spite  of  its  being  an  earlier 
bloomer,  a  lover  of  moisture,  and  well  equipped  with  basal  leaves 
at  flowering  time,  which  the  downy  species  is  not.  Moreover,  it 
bears  a  paler  blossom,  more  coarsely  dentate  leaves,  often  de- 
cidedly taper-pointed,  and  usually  several  stems  together. 

Our  other  common  yellow  species,  the  Round-leaved  Violet 
(V.  rotundifolia),  lifts  smaller,  pale,  brown-veined,  and  bearded 
blossoms  above  a  tuffet  of  broad,  shining  leaves  close  to  the 
ground.  The  veins  on  the  petals  serve  as  pathfinders  to  the 
nectary  for  the  bee,  and  the  beard  as  footholds,  while  she  probes 
the  inverted  blossoms.  Such  violets  as  have  their  side  petals 
bearded  are  most  frequently  visited  by  small  greenish  mason  bees 
(Osmia),  with  collecting  brushes  on  their  abdomen  that  receive 
the  pollen  as  it  falls.  Abundant  cleistogarnous  flowers  (see  pp. 
30  and  108)  are  borne  on  the  runners  late  in  the  season.  Bryant, 
whose  botanical  lore  did  not  always  keep  step  with  his  Muse, 
wrote  of  the  yellow  violet  as  the  first  spring  flower,  because  he 

318 


Yellow  and  Orange 

found  it  "by  the  snowbank's  edges  cold, "one  April  day,  when 
the  hepaticas  about  his  home  at  Roslyn,  Long  Island,  had  doubt- 
less been  in  bloom  a  month. 

"  Of  all  her  train  the  hands  of  Spring 
First  plant  thee  in  the  watery  mould," 

he  wrote,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  the  round-leaved  violet's  pref- 
erences are  for  dry,  wooded,  or  rocky  hillsides.  Muller  believed 
that  all  violets  were  originally  yellow,  not  white,  after  they 
evoluted  from  the  green  stage.  (Illustration,  p.  292.) 


Eastern  Cactus;   Prickly  Pear;   Indian  Fig 

(Opuntia  Opuntia)  Cactus  family 
(O.  vulgar 'is  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Yellow,  sometimes  reddish  at  centre,  2  to  3  in.  across, 
solitary,  mostly  seated  at  the  side  of  joints.  Calyx  tube  not 
prolonged  beyond  ovary,  its  numerous  lobes  spreading. 
Petals  numerous;  stamens  very  numerous;  ovary  cylindric; 
the  style  longer  than  stamens,  and  with  several  stigmas. 
Stem:  Prostrate  or  ascending,  fleshy,  juicy,  branching,  the 
thick,  flattened  joints  oblong  or  rounded,  2  to  5  in.  long. 
Leaves :  Tiny,  awl-shaped,  dotting  the  joints,  but  usually  fall- 
ing early  ;  tufts  of  yellowish  bristles  at  their  base.  Plant  un- 
armed, or  with  few  solitary  stout  spines.  Fruit:  Pear- 
shaped,  pulpy,  red,  nearly  smooth,  i  in.  long  or  over,  edible. 

Preferred  Habitat — Sandy  or  dry  or  rocky  places. 

Flowering  Season — June — August. 

Distribution — Massachusetts  to  Florida. 

Upwards  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  species  of  Opuntia,  which 
elect  to  grow  in  parching  sands,  beneath  a  scorching  sun,  often 
prostrate  on  baking  hot  rocks,  on  glaring  plains,  beaches,  and 
deserts,  from  Massachusetts  to  Peru — for  all  are  natives  of  the 
New  World — show  so  marvellous  an  adaptation  to  environment 
in  each  instance  that  no  group  of  plants  is  more  interesting  to  the 
botanist,  more  decorative  in  form  and  color  from  an  artistic 
standpoint,  more  distinctively  characteristic.  Plants  choosing  such 
habitats  as  they  have  adopted,  usually  in  tropical  or  semi-tropical 
regions,  had  to  resort  to  various  expedients  to  save  loss  of  water 
through  transpiration  and  evaporation.  Now,  as  leaves  are  the 
natural  outlets  for  moisture  thrown  off  by  any  plant,  manifestly 
the  first  thing  to  do  was  either  to  reduce  the  number  of  branches 
and  leaves,  or  to  modify  them  into  sharp  spines  (not  surface 


Yellow  and  Orange 

prickles  like  the  rose's) ;  to  cultivate  a  low  habit  of  growth,  not 
to  expose  unnecessary  surface  to  sun  and  air;  to  thicken  the  skin 
until  little  moisture  could  evaporate  through  the  leathery  coat;  and, 
finally,  to  utilize  the  material  thus  saved  in  developing  stems  so 
large,  fleshy,  and  juicy  that  they  should  become  wells  in  a  desert, 
with  powers  of  sustenance  great  enough  to  support  the  plant 
through  its  fiery  trials.  A  common  expedient  of  plants  in  dry 
situations,  even  at  the  north,  is  to  modify  their  leaves  into  spines, 
as  the  gorse  and  the  barberry,  for  example,  have  done.  That  such 
an  armor  also  serves  to  protect  them  against  the  ravages  of  graz- 
ing animals  is  an  additional  advantage,  of  course;  but  not  their 
sole  motive  in  wearing  it.  Popular  to  destruction  would  the  cool 
juices  of  the  cacti  be  in  thirsty  lands,  if  only  they  might  be 
obtained  without  painful  and  often  poisonous  scratches.  Given 
moist  soil  and  greater  humidity  of  atmosphere  to  grow  in,,  spiny 
plants  at  once  show  a  tendency  to  grow  taller,  to  branch  and 
become  leafy.  A  covering  of  hairs  which  reflect  the  light,  thus 
diminishing  the  amount  that  might  reach  the  juicy  interior  area, 
has  likewise  been  employed  by  many  cacti,  among  other  denizens 
of  dry  soil. 

In  this  common  prickly  pear  cactus  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard, 
where  the  air  is  laden  with  moisture  from  the  ocean,  few  or  no 
spines  are  produced ;  and  dotted  over  the  surface  of  its  branching, 
fleshy,  flattened  joints  we  find  tiny,  awl-shaped  leaves,  whereas 
foliage  is  entirely  wanting  in  the  densely  prickly,  rounded,  solid, 
unbranched,  hairy  cacti  of  the  southwestern  deserts,  and  the  arid 
plains  of  Mexico. 

In  sunshine  the  beautiful  yellow  blossom  of  our  prickly  pear 
expands  to  welcome  the  bees,  folding  up  its  petals  again  for 
several  successive  nights.  William  Hamilton  Gibson  says  it 
"encloses  its  buzzing  visitor  in  a  golden  bower,  from  which  he 
must  emerge  at  the  roof  as  dusty  as  a  miller,"  only  to  enter 
another  blossom  and  leave  some  pollen  on  its  numerous  stigmas. 

But  the  cochineal,  not  the  bee,  is  forever  associated  with  cacti 
in  the  popular  mind.  Indeed,  several  species  are  extensively 
grown  on  plantations,  known  as  Nopaleries,  which  furnish  food  to 
countless  trillions  of  these  tiny  insects.  Like  its  relative  the  aphis 
of  rose  bushes  (see  p.  99),  the  cochineal  fastens  itself  to  a  cactus 
plant  by  its  sucking  tube,  to  live  on  the  juices.  The  males  are 
winged,  and  only  the  female,  which  yields  the  valuable  dye,  sticks 
tight  to  the  plant.  Three  crops  of  insects  a  year  are  harvested  on  a 
Mexican  plantation.  After  three  months'  sucking,  the  females  are 
brushed  off,  dried  in  ovens,  and  sold  for  about  two  thousand 
dollars  a  ton.  The  annual  yield  of  Mexico  amounting  to  many 
thousands  of  tons,  it  is  no  wonder  the  cactus  plant,  which  fur- 
nishes so  valuable  an  industry,  should  appear  on  the  coat-of-arms 
of  the  Mexican  republic.  Some  cacti  are  planted  for  hedges,  the 
fruit  of  others  furnishes  a  refreshing  drink  in  tropical  climates, 

,320 


Yellow  and  Orange 

the  juices  are  used  as  a  water  color,  and  to  dye  candies — in  short, 
this  genus  Opuntia  and  allied  clans  have  great  comm'ercial  value. 

The  Western  Prickly  Pear  (O.  humifusa) — O.  Rafinesquii  of 
Gray — a  variable  species  ranging  from  Minnesota  to  Texas,  is 
similar  to  the  preceding,  but  bears  a  larger  flower,  and  longer, 
more  rounded,  deeper  green  joints,  beset  with  not  numerous 
spines,  scattered  chiefly  near  their  margins.  A  few  deflexed  spines 
in  a  cluster  leave  the  surface  where  a  tiny  awl-shaped  leaf  and  a 
tuft  of  reddish  brown  hairs  are  likewise  usually  found. 

Evening-Primrose;   Night  Willow-herb 

(Onagra  biennis)  Evening-primrose  family 
(OEnothera  biennis  of  Gray) 

flowers — Yellow,  fragrant,  opening  at  evening,  i  to  2  in.  across, 
borne  in  terminal  leafy-bracted  spikes.  Calyx  tube  slender, 
elongated,  gradually  enlarged  at  throat,  the  4-pointed  lobes 
bent  backward  ;  corolla  of  4  spreading  petals  ;  8  stamens  ;  i 
pistil  ;  the  stigma  4-cleft.  Stem :  Erect,  wand-like,  or 
branched,  i  to  5  ft.  tall,  rarely  higher,  leafy.  Leaves :  Al- 
ternate, lance-shaped,  mostly  seated  on  stem,  entire,  or  ob- 
scurely toothed. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Roadsides,  dry  fields,  thickets,  fence-corners. 

Flowering  Season — June — October. 

Distribution — Labrador  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  west  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains. 

Like  a  ball-room  beauty,  the  evening  primrose  has  a  jaded, 
bedraggled  appearance  by  day  when  we  meet  it  by  the  dusty 
roadside,  its  erect  buds,  fading  flowers  from  last  night's  revelry, 
wilted  ones  of  previous  dissipations,  and  hairy  oblong  capsules, 
all  crowded  together  among  the  willow-like  leaves  at  the  top  of 
the  rank  growing  plant.  But  at  sunset  a  bud  begins  to  expand 
its  delicate  petals  slowly,  timidly — not  suddenly  and  with  a  pop, 
as  the  evening  primrose  of  the  garden  does. 

Now,  its  fragrance,  that  has  been  only  faintly  perceptible 
during  the  day,  becomes  increasingly  powerful.  Why  these 
blandishments  at  such  an  hour  ?  Because  at  dusk,  when  sphinx 
moths,  large  and  small,  begin  to  fly  (p.  249),  the  primrose's 
special  benefactors  are  abroad.  All  these  moths,  whose  length  of 
tongue  has  kept  pace  with  the  development  of  the  tubes  of  certain 
white  and  yellow  flowers  dependent  on  their  ministrations,  find 
such  glowing  like  miniature  moons  for  their  special  benefit,  when 
blossoms  of  other  hues  have  melted  into  the  deepening  darkness. 
If  such  have  fragrance,  they  prepare  to  shed  it  now.  Nectar  is 
21  321 


Yellow  and  Orange 

secreted  in  tubes  so  deep  and  slender  that  none  but  the  moths' 
long  tongues  can  drain  the  last  drop.  An  exquisite,  little,  rose-pink 
twilignt  flyer,  his  wings  bordered  with  yellow,  flutters  in  ecstasy 
above  the  evening  primrose's  freshly  opened  flowers,  transferring 
in  his  rapid  flight  some  of  their  abundant,  sticky  pollen  that 
hangs  like  a  necklace  from  the  outstretched  filaments.  By  day 
one  may^  occasionally  find  a  little  fellow  asleep  in  a  wilted  blos- 
som, which  serves  him  as  a  tent,  under  whose  flaps  the  brightest 
bird  eye  rarely  detects  a  dinner.  After  a  single  night's  dissipa- 
tion the  corolla  wilts,  hangs  a  while,  then  drops  from  the  matur- 
ing capsule  as  if  severed  with  a  sharp  knife.  Few  flowers, 
sometimes  only  one  opens  on  a  spike  on  a  given  evening — a  plan 
to  increase  the  chances  of  cross-fertilization  between  distinct 
plants;  but  there  is  a  very  long  succession  of  bloom.  If  a  flower 
has  not  been  pollenized  during  the  night  it  remains  open  a  while  in 
the  morning.  Bumblebees  now  hurry  in,  and  an  occasional  hum- 
ming bird  takes  a  sip  of  nectar.  Toward  the  end  of  summer,  when 
so  much  seed  has  been  set  that  the  flower  can  afford  to  be  gener- 
ous, it  distinctly  changes  its  habit  and  keeps  open  house  all  day. 
During  our  winter  walks  we  shall  see  close  against  the 
ground  the  rosettes  of  year-old  evening  primrose  plants — ex- 
quisitely symmetrical,  complex  stars  from  whose  centre  the 
flower  stalks  of  another  summer  will  arise.  (Illustration,  p.  354.) 

Floriform  sunshine  bursts  forth  from  roadsides,  fields,  and 
prairies  when  the  Common  Sundrops  (Kneiffia  fructicosa} — 
formerly  OEnothera  fructicosa — is  in  flower.  It  is  first  cousin 
to  the  similar  evening  primrose  of  taller,  ranker  growth.  Often 
only  one  blossom  on  a  stalk  expands  at  a  time,  to  increase  the 
chances  of  cross-fertilization  between  distinct  plants;  but  where 
colonies  grow  it  is  a  conspicuous  acquaintance,  for  its  large,  bright 
yellow  corollas  remain  open  all  day.  Bumblebees  with  their  long 
tongues,  and  some  butterflies,  drain  the  deeply  hidden  nectar; 
smaller  visitors  get  some  only  when  it  wells  up  high  in  the  tube. 
As  the  stigma  surpasses  the  anthers,  self-fertilization  is  impossible 
unless  an  insect  blunders  by  alighting  elsewhere  than  on  the 
lower  side,  where  the  stigma  is  purposely  turned  to  be  rubbed 
against  his  pollen-laden  ventral  surface  when  he  settles  on  a 
blossom.  Unable  to  reach  the  nectar,  mining  and  leaf-cutter  bees, 
wasps,  flower  flies,  and  beetles  visit  it  for  the  abundant  pollen ; 
and  the  common  little  white  cabbage  butterfly  (Pieris  protodice] 
sucks  here  constantly.  The  capsules  of  the  sundrops  are  some- 
what club-shaped  and  four-winged,  angled  above,  with  four  inter- 
vening ribs  between.  Range  from  Nova  Scotia  to  Georgia,  west 
beyond  the  Mississippi.  (Illustration,  p.  324.) 

A  similar,  but  smaller,  diurnal  species  (K.  pumilla),  likewise 
found  blooming  in  dry  soil  from  June  to  August,  has  a  more 
westerly  range  North  and  South. 

322 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Wild  or  Field  Parsnip;  Madnep;  Tank 

(Pastinaca  sativa)  Carrot  family 

Flowers — Dull  or  greenish  yellow,  small,  without  involucre  or  in- 
volucels  ;  borne  in  7  to  15  rayed  umbels,  2  to  6  in.  across. 
Stem  :  2  to  5  ft.  tall,  stout,  smooth,  branching,  grooved,  from 
a  long,  conic,  fleshy,  strong-scented  root.  Leaves:  Com- 
pounded (pinnately),  of  several  pairs  of  oval,  lobed,  or  cut, 
sharply  toothed  leaflets  ;  the  petioled  lower  leaves  often  \y2 
ft.  long. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Waste  places,  roadsides,  fields. 

Flowering  Season — June — September. 

Distribution — Common  throughout  nearly  all  parts  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada.  Europe. 

Men  are  not  the  only  creatures  who  feed  upon  such  of  the 
umbel-bearing  plants  as  are  innocent — parsnips,  celery,  parsley, 
carrots,  caraway,  and  fennel,  among  others;  and  even  those  which 
contain  properties  that  are  poisonous  to  highly  organized  men  and 
beasts,  afford  harmless  food  for  insects.  Pliny  says  that  parsnips, 
which  were  cultivated  beyond  the  Rhine  in  the  days  of  Tiberius, 
were  brought  to  Rome  annually  to  please  the  emperor's  exacting 
palate ;  yet  this  same  plant,  which  has  overrun  two  continents,  in  its 
wild  state  (when  its  leaves  are  a  paler  yellowish  green  than  under 
cultivation)  often  proves  poisonous.  A  strongly  acrid  juice  in  the 
very  tough  stem  causes  intelligent  cattle  to  let  it  alone — precisely  the 
object  desired.  But  caterpillars  of  certain  swallow-tail  butterflies, 
particularly  of  the  common  eastern  swallow-tail  (Papilio  asterias), 
may  be  taken  on  it — the  same  greenish,  black-banded,  and  yellow- 
dotted  fat  "worm"  found  on  parsnips,  fennel,  and  parsley  in  the 
kitchen  garden.  Insects  understood  plant  relationships  ages  be- 
fore Linnaeus  defined  them.  When  we  see  this  dark,  velvety 
butterfly,  marked  with  yellow,  hovering  above  the  wild  parsnip, 
we  may  know  she  is  there  only  to  lay  eggs  that  her  larvae  may  eat 
their  way  to  maturity  on  this  favorite  food  store.  After  the  flat, 
oval,  shining  seeds  with  their  conspicuous  oil  tubes  are  set  in  the 
spreading  umbels,  the  strong,  vigorous  plant  loses  nothing  of  its 
decorative  charm. 

From  April  to  June  the  lower-growing  Early  or  Golden 
Meadow  Parsnip  (Zi^ia  aurea)  spreads  its  clearer  yellow  umbels 
above  moist  fields,  meadows,  and  swamps  from  New  Brunswick 
and  Dakota  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Its  leaves  are  twice  or  thrice 
compounded  of  oblong,  pointed,  saw-edged,  but  not  lobed  leaflets. 

The  Hairy-jointed  Meadow  Parsnip  (Thaspium  barbinode), 
another  early  bloomer,  with  pale-yellow  flowers,  most  common 

323 


Yellow  and  Orange 

in  the  Mississippi  basin,  may  always  be  distinguished  by  the  little 
tufts  of  hair  at  the  joints  of  the  stem,  the  compound  leaves,  and 
often  on  the  rays  of  the  umbels. 

A  yellow  variety  of  the  purple  meadow  parsnip,  which  is 
popularly  known  as  Golden  Alexanders  (7*.  trifoliatum  var. 
aiireum),  confines  itself  chiefly  to  woodlands.  The  leaves  are 
compounded  of  three  leaflets,  longer  and  more  lance-shaped  in 
outline  than  those  of  other  yellow  species. 


Four-leaved  or  Whorled   Loosestrife  ; 
Crosswort 

(Lysimachia  quadrifolia)  Primrose  family 

Flowers — Yellow,  streaked  with  dark  red,  ^  in.  across  or  less; 
each  on  a  thread-like,  spreading  footstem  from  a  leaf  axil. 
Calyx,  5  to  7  parted;  corolla  of  5  to  7  spreading  lobes,  and 
as  many  stamens  inserted  on  the  throat;  i  pistil.  Stem: 
Slender,  erect,  i  to  3  ft.  tall,  leafy.  Leaves :  In  whorls  of  4 
(rarely  in  /s  to  7's),  lance-shaped  or  oblong,  entire,  black 
dotted. 

Preferred  Habitat — Open  woodland,  thickets,  roadsides;  moist, 
sandy  soil. 

Flowering  Season — J une — August. 

&istrivutio?i—GQorg\a.  and  Illinois,  north  to  New  Brunswick. 

Mediaeval  herbalists  usually  recorded  anything  that  "  Plinie 
saieth  "  with  profoundest  respect;  not  always  so,  quaint  old  Park- 
inson. Speaking  of  the  common  (uulgaris),  wild  loosestrife  of 
Europe,  a  rather  stout,  downy  species  with  terminal  clusters  of 

food-sized,  yellow  flowers,  that  was  once  cultivated  in  our  Eastern 
tates,  and  has  sparingly  escaped  from  gardens,  he  thus  refers  to 
the  reputation  given  it  by  the  Roman  naturalist:  "It  is  believed 
to  take  away  strife,  or  debate  between  ye  beasts,  not  onely  those 
that  are  yoked  together,  but  even  those  that  are  wild  also,  by 
making  them  tame  and  quiet  ...  if  it  be  either  put  about  their 
yokes  or  their  necks,"  significantly  adding,  "  which  how  true,  I 
leave  to  them  shall  try  and  find  it  soe."  Our  slender,  symmetri- 
cal, common  loosestrife,  with  its  whorls  of  leaves  and  little  star- 
shaped  blossoms  on  thread-like  pedicels  at  regular  intervals  up 
the  stem,  is  not  even  distantly  related  to  the  wonderful  purple 
loosestrife  (p.  115). 

Another  common,  lower-growing  species,  the  Bulb-bearing 
Loosestrife  (L.  terrestris) — L  stricta  of  Gray — blooming  from 
July  to  September,  lifts  a  terminal,  elongated  raceme  of  even 
smaller,  slender-pedicelled,  yellow  flowers  streaked  or  dotted 
with  reddish;  and  in  the  axils  of  its  abundant,  opposite,  lance- 

3-4 


Yellow  and  Orange 

shaped,  black-dotted  leaves,  long  bulblets,  that  are  in  reality 
suppressed  branches,  art  usually  borne  after  the  flowering  season. 
Occasionally  no  flowers  are  produced,  or.ly  these  strange  bulblets. 
In  this  state  Linnaeus  mistook  the  plant  for  a  terrestrial  mistletoe. 
This  species  shows  a  decided  preference  for  swamps,  moist 
thickets,  and  ditches  throughout  a  range  which  extends  from 
Manitoba  and  Arkansas  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

Money  wort,  or  Creeping  Loosestrife  (L.  Nummularia),  a  native 
of  Great  Britain,  which  has  long  been  a  favorite  vine  in  American 
hanging  baskets  and  urns,  when  kept  in  moist  soil,  suspended 
from  a  veranda,  will  produce  prolific  shoots  two  or  three  feet 
in  length,  hanging  down  on  all  sides.  Pairs  of  yellow,  dark-spot- 
ted, five-lobed  flowers  grow  from  the  axils  of  the  opposite  leaves 
from  June  to  August.  One  often  finds  it  running  wild  in  moist 
soil  beyond  the  pale  of  old  gardens  from  Pennsylvania  and  Indiana 
northward  into  Canada.  Slight  encouragement  in  starting  run- 
aways would  easily  induce  the  hardy  little  evergreen  to  be  as  com- 
mon here  as  it  is  in  England. 

The  Lance-leaved  Loosestrife  (Steironcma  lanceolatum),  most 
common  in  the  West  and  South,  although  it  is  by  no  means  rare 
in  the  northeastern  States,  produces  either  single  blossoms  or 
few-flowered,  spreading,  axillary  clusters  on  slender  peduncles, 
each  unspotted,  yellow  corolla  half  an  inch  across  or  over;  the 
petal  edges  as  if  gnawed  by  the  finest  of  teeth ;  the  pointed 
calyx  segments  showing  between  them.  Sterile  stamens  in  addi- 
tion to  the  fertile  ones  characterize  this  clan,  in  moist  soil  it 
blooms  from  June  to  August.  It  is  a  strange  fact  that  female 
bees  of  the  genus  Macropis  have  never  been  taken  on  plants  out- 
side the  loosestrife  connection.  Here  there  appears  to  be  the 
closest  interdependence  between  flower  and  insect.  Even  in 
Germany,  Muller  found  them  by  far  the  most  abundant  visitors, 
"diligently  sweeping  the  flowers  (L.  vulgaris)  and  piling  large 
masses  of  moistened  pollen  on  their  hind  legs."  He  inclined  to 
believe  that  such  blossoms  in  this  group  as  have  spots  or  streaks 
on  their  petals — pathfinders  for  insect  visitors — are  largely  depend- 
ent on  them,  and  cannot  easily  fertilize  themselves;  whereas  the 
unmarked  blossoms,  growing  in  such  situations  as  are  less  favor- 
able to  insect  visits,  are  regularly  self-fertile. 


Butterfly-weed;    Pleurisy-root;   Orange-root; 
Orange  Milkweed 

(Asclepias  tuberosd)  Milkweed  family 

flowers — Bright  reddish  orange,  in  many-flowered,  terminal  clus- 
ters, each  flower  similar  in  structure  to  the  common  milk- 
weed (see  p.  135).  Stem:  Erect,  i  to  2  ft.  tall,  hairy,  leafy, 

325 


Yellow  and  Orange 

milky  juice  scanty.  Leaves:  Usually  all  alternate,  lance- 
shaped,  seated  on  stem.  Fruit:  A  pair  of  erect,  hoary  pods, 
2  to  5  in.  long,  i  at  least  containing  silky  plumed  seeds. 

Preferred  Habitat— Dry  or  sandy  fields,  hills,  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — June — September. 

Distribution — Maine  and  Ontario  to  Arizona,  south  to  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico. 

Intensely  brilliant  clusters  of  this  the  most  ornamental  of  all 
native  milkweeds  set  dry  fields  ablaze  with  color.  Above  them 
butterflies  hover,  float,  alight,  sip,  and  sail  away — the  great,  dark, 
velvety,  pipe-vine  swallow-tail  (Papiliophilenor),  its  green-shaded 
hind  wings  marked  with  little  white  half  moons  ;  the  yellow  and 
brown,  common,  Eastern  swallow-tail  (P.  asterias),  that  we  saw 
about  the  wild  parsnip  and  other  members  of  the  carrot  family  ; 
the  exquisite,  large,  spice-bush  swallow-tail,  whose  bugaboo  cater- 
pillar startled  us  when  we  unrolled  a  leaf  of  its  favorite  food 
supply  (p.  298) ;  the  small,  common,  white,  cabbage  butterfly 
(Pieris  protodice} ;  the  even  more  common  little  sulphur  butterflies, 
inseparable  from  clover  fields  and  mud  puddles  ;  the  painted  lady 
that  follows  thistles  around  the  globe;  the  regal  fritillary  (Argynnis 
idalia),  its  black  and  fulvous  wings  marked  with  silver  crescents, 
a  gorgeous  creature  developed  from  the  black  and  orange  cater- 
pillnr  that  prowls  at  night  among  violet  plants;  the  great  spangled 
fritiilary  of  similar  habit;  the  bright  fulvous  and  black  pearl  cres- 
cent butterfly  (Phyciodes  tharos),  its  small  wings  usually  seen 
hovering  about  the  asters  ;  the  little  grayish-brown,  coral  hair- 
streak  (Thecla  titus),  and  the  bronze  copper  (Chrysophanus  thoe), 
whose  caterpillar  feeds  on  sorrel  (Rumex) ;  the  delicate,  tailed  blue 
butterfly  (Lycccna  comyntas),  with  a  wing  expansion  of  only  an 
inch  from  tip  to  tip;  all  these  visitors  duplicated  again  and  again — 
these  and  several  others  that  either  escaped  the  net  before  they 
were  named,  or  could  not  be  run  down,  were  seen  one  bright 
midsummer  day  along  a  Long  Island  roadside  bordered  with  but- 
terfly weed.  Most  abundant  of  all  was  still  another  species,  the 
splendid  monarch  (Anosia  plexippus),  the  most  familiar  representa- 
tive of  the  tribe  of  milkweed  butterflies  (p.  138).  Swarms  of 
this  enormously  prolific  species  are  believed  to  migrate  to  the  Gulf 
States,  and  beyond  at  the  approach  of  cold  weather,  as  regularly  as 
the  birds,  travelling  in  numbers  so  vast  that  the  naked  trees  on 
which  they  pause  to  rest  appear  to  be  still  decked  with  autumnal 
foliage.  This  milkweed  butterfly  "is  a  great  migrant,"  says  Dr. 
Holland,  "and  within  quite  recent  years,  with  Yankee  instinct,  has 
crossed  the  Pacific,  probably  on  merchant  vessels,  the  chrysalids 
being  possibly  concealed  in  bales  of  hay,  and  has  found  lodgment 
in  Australia  where  it  has  greatly  multiplied  in  the  warmer  parts 
of  the  Island  Continent,  and  has  thence  spread  northward  and 
westward,  until  in  its  migrations  it  has  reached  Java  and  Sumatra, 

326 


Yellow  and  Orange 

and  long  ago  took  possession  of  the  Philippines.  ...  It  has 
established  a  more  or  less  precarious  foothold  for  itself  in  southern 
England.  It  is  well  established  at  the  Cape  Verde  Islands,  and  in  a 
short  time  we  may  expect  to  hear  of  it  as  having  taken  posses- 
sion of  the  Continent  of  Africa,  in  which  the  family  of  plants  upon 
which  the  caterpillars  feed  is  well  represented."  , 

Surely  here  is  a  butterfly  flower  if  ever  there  was  one,  and 
such  are  rare.  Very  few  are  adapted  to  tongues  so  long  and 
slender  that  the  bumblebee  cannot  help  himself  to  their  nectar; 
but  one  almost  never  sees  him  about  the  butterfly-weed.  While 
other  bees,  a  few  wasps,  and  even  the  ruby-throated  humming 
bird,  which  ever  delights  in  flowers  with  a  suspicion  of  red  about 
them,  sometimes  visit  these  bright  clusters,  it  is  to  the  ever- 
present  butterfly  that  their  marvellous  structure  is  manifestly 
adapted.  Only  visitors  long  of  limb  can  easily  remove  the  pol- 
linia,  which  are  usually  found  dangling  from  the  hairs  of  their  legs. 
We  may  be  sure  that  after  generously  feeding  its  guests,  the  flower 
does  not  allow  many  to  depart  without  rendering  an  equivalent 
service.  The  method  of  compelling  visitors  to  withdraw  pollen- 
masses  from  one  blossom  and  deposit  them  in  another — an  amaz- 
ing process — has  been  already  described  under  the  common  milk- 
weed. Lacking  the  quantity  of  sticky  milky  juice  which  protects 
that  plant  from  crawling  pilferers,  the  butterfly-weed  suffers  out- 
rageous robberies  from  black  ants.  The  hairs  on  its  stem,  not 
sufficient  to  form  a  stockade  against  them,  serve  only  as  a  screen 
to  reflect  light  lest  top  much  may  penetrate  to  the  interior  juices. 
We  learned,  in  studying  the  prickly  pear  cactus,  how  necessary 
it  is  for  plants  living  in  dry  soil  to  guard  against  the  escape  of  their 
precious  moisture. 

Transplanted  from  Nature's  garden  into  our  own,  into  what 
Thoreau  termed  "that  meagre  assemblage  of  curiosities,  that 
poor  apology  for  Nature  and  Art  which  1  call  my  front  yard," 
clumps  of  butterfly- weed  give  the  place  real  splendor  and  interest 
It  is  said  the  Indians  used  the  tuberous  root  of  this  plant  for  vari- 
ous maladies,  although  they  could  scarcely  have  known  that  be- 
cause of  the  alleged  healing  properties  of  the  genus  Linnaeus  dedi- 
cated it  to  Aesculapius,  of  whose  name  Asclepias  is  a  Latinized 
corruption.  (Illustration,  p.  312.) 


Horse-balm;  Citronella;   Rich-weed; 
Stone-root;   Horse-weed 

(Collinsonia  Canadensis)  Mint  family 

Flowers — Light  yellowish,  lemon-scented,  about  YZ  in.  long,  mostly 
opposite,  in  numerous  spreading  racemes,  forming  long,  loose, 
terminal  clusters.  Calyx  bell-shaped,  2-lipped,  upper  lip  3- 

32? 


Yellow  and  Orange 

toothed,  lower  lip  2-cleft;  corolla  5-lobed,  4  lobes  nearly 
equal,  the  fifth  much  larger,  fringed ;  stamens  protruding, 
2  anther-bearing;  i  long  style,  the  stigma  forked. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rich,  moist  woods. 

Flowering  Season — July — October. 

Distribution — New  England,  Ontario,  and  Wisconsin,  south  to 
Florida  and  Kansas. 

Now  that  we  have  come  to  read  the  faces  of  flowers  much 
as  their  insect  friends  must  have  done  for  countless  ages,  we 
suspect  at  a  glance  that  the  strong-scented  horse-balm,  with  its 
profusion  of  lemon-colored,  irregular  little  blossoms,  is  up  to 
some  ingenious  trick.  The  lower  lip,  out  of  all  proportion  to 
the  rest  of  the  corolla,  flaunting  its  enticing  fringes;  the  long 
stamens  protruding  from  some  flowers,  and  only  the  long  style 
from  others  on  the  same  plant,  excite  our  curiosity.  Where  many 
fragrant  clumps  grow  in  cool,  shady  woods  at  midsummer,  is  an 
excellent  place  to  rest  a  while  and  satisfy  it.  Presently  a  bumble- 
bee, attracted  by  the  odor  from  afar,  alights  on  the  fringed  plat- 
form too  weak  to  hold  him.  Dropping  downward,  he  snatches 
the  filaments  of  the  two  long  stamens  to  save  himself;  and,  as  he 
does  so,  pollen  jarred  out  of  their  anther  sacs  falls  on  his  thorax  at 
the  juncture  of  his  wings.  Hanging  beneath  the  flower  a  second, 
he  sips  its  nectar  and  is  off.  Many  bees,  large  and  small,  go 
through  a  similar  performance.  Now  the  young,  newly  opened 
flowers  have  the  forked  stigmas  of  the  long  style  only  protruding 
at  this  stage,  the  miniature  stamens  being  still  curled  within  the 
tube.  Obviously  a  pollen-dusted  bee  coming  to  one  of  these 
young  flowers  must  rub  off  some  of  the  vitalizing  dust  on  the 
sticky  fork  that  purposely  impedes  his  entrance  at  the  precise 
spot  necessary.  Notice  that  after  a  flower's  stamens  protrude  in 
the  second  stage  of  its  development  the  fork  is  turned  far  to  one 
side  to  get  out  of  harm's  way — self-fertilization  being  an  abomina- 
tion. It  was  the  lamented  William  Hamilton  Gibson  who  first 
called  attention  to  the  horse-balm's  ingenious  scheme  to  prevent  it. 


Virginia  Ground  Cherry 

(Physalis  Virginiand)  Potato  family 
(P.  Pennsylvanica  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Sulphur  or  greenish  yellow,  with  5  dark  purplish  dots, 
i  in.  across  or  less,  solitary  from  the  leaf  axils.  Calyx  5- 
toothed,  much  inflated  in  fruit  ;  corolla  open  bell-shaped,  the 
edge  5-cleft  ;  5  stamens,  the  anthers  yellow,  style  slender, 
2-cleft.  Stem:  i^  to  3  ft.  tall,  erect,  more  or  less  hairy  or 
glandular,  branched,  from  a  thick  rootstock.  Leaves  :  Ovate 
328 


Yellow  and  Orange 

to  lanceolate,  tapering  at  both  ends  or  wedge-shaped,  often 
yellowish  green,  entire  or  sparingly  wavy-toothed.  Fruit: 
An  inflated,  5-angled  capsule,  sunken  at  the  base,  loosely  sur- 
rounding the  edible  reddish  berry. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Open  ground  ;  rich,  dry  pastures  ;  hillsides. 

Flowering  Season — J  uly — September. 

Distribution — New  York  to  Manitoba,  south  to  the  Gulf  States. 

A  common  plant,  so  variable,  however,  that  the  earlier  botan- 
ists thought  it  must  be  several  distinct  species,  lanceolata  among 
others.  A  glance  within  shows  that  the  open  flower  is  not  so 
generous  as  its  spreading  form  would  seem  to  indicate,  for  tufts 
of  dense  hairs  at  each  side  of  grooves  where  nectar  is  secreted, 
conceal  it  from  the  mob,  and,  with  the  thickened  filaments,  almost 
close  the  throat.  Doubtless  these  hairs  also  serve  as  footholds  for 
the  welcome  bee  clinging  to  its  pendent  host.  The  dark  spots 
are  pathfinders.  One  anther  maturing  after  another,  a  visitor  must 
make  several  trips  to  secure  all  the  pollen,  and  if  she  is  already 
dusted  from  another  blossom,  nine  chances  out  of  ten  she  will  first 
leave  some  of  the  vitalizing  dust  on  the  stigma  poked  forward  to 
receive  it  before  collecting  more.  Professor  Robertson  says  that 
all  the  ground  cherries  near  his  home  in  Illinois  are  remarkable  for 
their  close  mutual  relation  with  two  bees  of  the  genus  Colletes. 
So  far  as  is  known,  the  insignificant  little  greenish  or  purplish  bell- 
shaped  flowers  of  the  Alum-root  (Heuchera  Americana),  with 
protruding  orange  anthers,  are  the  only  other  ones  to  furnish  these 
females  with  pollen  for  their  babies'  bread.  Slender  racemes  of 
this  species  are  found  blooming  in  dry  or  rocky  woods  from  the 
Mississippi  eastward,  from  May  to  July,  by  which  time  the  ground 
cherry  is  ready  to  provide  for  the  bee's  wants.  The  similar  Phila- 
delphia species  was  formerly  cultivated  for  its  "strawberry  to- 
mato." Many  birds  which  feast  on  all  this  highly  attractive  fruit 
disperse  the  numerous  kidney-shaped  seeds. 


Great  Mullein;  Velvet  or  Flannel   Plant; 
Mullein  Dock;  Aaron's  Rod 

(yerbascum  Thapsus)  Figwort  family 

Flowers — Yellow,  i  in.  across  or  less,  seated  around  a  thick,  dense, 
elongated  spike.  Calyx  5-parted ;  corolla  of  5  rounded  lobes; 
5  anther-bearing  stamens,  the  3  upper  ones  short,  woolly;  i 
pistil.  Stem:  Stout,  2  to  7  ft.  tall,  densely  woolly,  with 
branched  hairs.  Leaves:  Thick,  pale  green,  velvety-hairy,  ob- 
long, in  a  rosette  on  the  ground  ;  others  alternate,  strongly 
clasping  the  stem. 

Preferred  Habitat—Dry  fields,  banks,  stony  waste  land. 

329 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Flowering  Season— June — September. 

Distribution — Minnesota  and  Kansas,  eastward  to  Nova  Scotia  and 
Florida.     Europe. 

Leaving  the  fluffy  thistle-down  he  has  been  kindly  scattering 
to  the  four  winds,  the  goldfinch  spreads  his  wings  for  a  brief  un- 
dulating flight,  singing  in  waves  also  as  he  goes  to  where  tall, 
thick-set  mullein  stalks  stand  like  sentinels  above  the  stony  pas- 
ture. Here  companies  of  the  exquisite  little  black  and  yellow 
minstrels  delight  to  congregate  with  their  sombre  families  and 
feast  on  the  seeds  that  rapidly  follow  the  erratic  flowers  up  the 
gradually  lengthening  spikes. 

Delpino  long  ago  pointed  out  that  the  blossom  is  best  adapted 
to  pollen-collecting  bees,  which,  alighting  on  the  two  long,  pro- 
truding stamens,  rub  off  pollen  on  their  under  sides  while  cling- 
ing for  support  to  the  wool  on  the  three  shorter  stamens,  whose 
anthers  supply  their  needs.  As  a  bee  settles  on  another  flower,  the 
stigma  is  calculated  to  touch  the  pollen  on  his  under  side  before  he 
gets  dusted  with  more;  thus  cross-pollination  is  effected.  Three 
stamens  furnish  a  visitor  with  food,  two  others  clap  pollen  on  him. 
Numerous  flies  assist  in  removing  the  pollen,  too. 

' '  1  have  come  three  thousand  miles  to  see  the  mullein  cultivated 
in  a  garden,  and  christened  the  velvet  plant,"  says  John  Burroughs 
in  "An  October  Abroad."  But  even  in  England  it  grows  wild,  and 
much  more  abundantly  in  Southern  Europe,  while  its  specific 
name  is  said  to  have  been  given  it  because  it  was  so  common  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Thapsus ;  but  whether  the  place  of  that  name 
in  Africa,  or  the  Sicilian  town  mentioned  by  Ovid  and  Virgil,  is 
not  certain.  Strange  that  Europeans  should  labor  under  the  erro- 
neous impression  that  this  mullein  is  native  to  America,  whereas 
here  it  is  only  an  immigrant  from  their  own  land.  Rapidly  tak- 
ing its  course  of  empire  westward  from  our  seaports  into  which 
the  seeds  smuggled  their  passage  among  the  ballast,  it  is  now  more 
common  in  the  Eastern  States,  perhaps,  than  any  native.  Forty 
or  more  folk-names  have  been  applied  to  it,  mostly  in  allusion  to 
its  alleged  curative  powers,  its  use  for  candle-wick  and  funeral 
torches  in  the  Middle  Ages.  The  generic  title,  first  used  by  Pliny, 
is  thought  to  be  a  corruption  of  Barbascum  =  with  beards,  in  al- 
lusion to  the  hairy  filaments,  or,  as  some  think,  to  the  leaves. 

Of  what  use  is  this  felt-like  covering  to  the  plant  ?  The  im- 
portance of  protecting  the  delicate,  sensitive,  active  cells  from  in- 
tense light,  draught,  or  cold,  have  led  various  plants  to  various 
practices  ;  none  more  common,  however,  than  to  develop  hairs 
on  the  epidermis  of  their  leaves,  sometimes  only  enough  to  give 
it  a  downy  appearance,  sometimes  to  coat  it  with  felt,  as  in  this 
case,  where  the  hairs  branch  and  interlace.  Fierce  sunlight  in 
the  exposed,  dry  situations  where  the  mullein  grows  ;  prolonged 
drought,  which  often  occurs  at  flowering  season,  when  the  perpet- 

330 


Yellow  and  Orange 

uation  of  the  species  is  at  stake  ;  and  the  intense  cold  which  the 
exquisite  rosettes  formed  by  year-old  plants  must  endure  through 
a  winter  before  they  can  send  up  a  flower-stalk  the  second  spring 
— these  trials  the  well-screened,  juicy,  warm  plant  has  success- 
fully surmounted  through  its  coat  of  felt.  Humming  birds  have 
been  detected  gathering  the  hairs  to  line  their  tiny  nests.  The 
light,  strong  stalk  makes  almost  as  good  a  cane  as  bamboo,  espe- 
cially when  the  root  end,  in  running  under  a  stone,  forms  a 
crooked  handle.  Pale  country  beauties  rub  their  cheeks  with  the 
velvety  leaves  to  make  them  rosy. 


Moth  Mullein 

(Verbascum  Blattaria}  Figwort  family 

Floivers — Yellow,  or  frequently  white,  5-parted,  about  I  in.  broad, 
marked  with  brown  ;  borne  on  spreading  pedicles  in  a  long, 
loose  raceme  ;  all  the  filaments  with  violet  hairs  ;  i  pro- 
truding pistil.  Stem:  Erect,  slender,  simple,  about 2 ft.  high, 
sometimes  less,  or  much  taller.  Leaves:  Seldom  present  at 
flowering  time  ;  oblong  to  ovate,  toothed,  mostly  sessile, 
smooth. 

Pi-eferred  Habitat—  Dry,  open  wasteland  ;  roadsides,  fields. 

Flowering  Season — June — November. 

Distribution — Naturalized  from  Europe  and  Asia,  more  or  less 
common  throughout  the  United  States  and  Canada. 

Quite  different  from  its  heavy  and  sluggish  looking  sister  is  this 
sprightly,  slender,  fragile-flowered  mullein.  "  Said  to  repel  the 
cockroach  (Blatta),  hence  the  name  Blattaria;  frequented  by 
moths,  hence  moth  mullein."  (Britton  and  Brown's  "Flora.") 
Are  the  latter  frequent  visitors  ?  Surely  there  is  nothing  here  to 
a  moth's  liking.  New  England  women  used  to  pack  this  plant 
among  woollen  garments  in  summer  to  keep  out  the  tiny  clothes- 
moths.  The  flower,  whose  two  long  stamens  and  pistil  protrude 
as  from  the  great  mullein's  blossom,  and  whose  filaments  are  tufted 
with  violet  wool  footholds — unnecessary  provisions  for  moths, 
which  rarely  alight  on  any  flower,  but  suck  with  their  wings  in 
motion — are  cross-fertilized  by  pollen-collecting  bees  and  flies  as 
described  in  the  account  of  the  great  mullein. 

"  Of  beautiful  weeds  quite  a  long  list  might  be  made  with- 
out including  any  of  the  so-called  wild  flowers,"  says  John  Bur- 
roughs. "  A  favorite  of  mine  is  the  little  moth  mullein  that  blooms 
along  the  highway,  and  about  the  fields,  and  maybe  upon  the 
edge  of  the  lawn."  Even  in  winter,  when  the  slender  stem,  set 
with  round  brown  seed-vessels,  rises  above  the  snow,  the  plant 
is  pleasing  to  the  human  eye,  as  it  is  to  that  of  hungry  birds. 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Butter-and-eggs;    Yellow    Toad-flax;     Eggs- 
and-bacon  ;  Flaxweed  ;  Brideweed 

(Linaria  Linaria}  Figwort  family 
(L.  "vulgaris  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Light  canary  yellow  and  orange,  i  in.  long  or  over,  irregu- 
lar, borne  in  terminal,  leafy-bracted  spikes.  Corolla  spurred  at 
the  base,  2-lipped,  the  upper  lip  erect,  2-lobed  ;  the  lower  lip 
spreading,  3-lobed,  its  base  an  orange-colored  palate  closing 
the  throat  ;  4  stamens  in  pairs  within  ;  i  pistil.  Stem  :  i  to  3 
ft.  tall,  slender,  leafy.  Leaves:  Pale,  grass-like. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Waste  land,  roadsides,  banks,  fields. 

Flowering  Season — June — October. 

Distribution — Nebraska  and  Manitoba,  eastward  to  Virginia  and 
Nova  Scotia.  Europe  and  Asia. 

An  immigrant  from  Europe,  this  plebeian  perennial,  meekly 
content  with  waste  places,  is  rapidly  inheriting  the  earth.  Its 
beautiful  spikes  of  butter-colored  cornucopias,  apparently  holding 
the  yolk  of  a  diminutive  Spanish  egg,  emit  a  cheesy  odor,  sug- 
gesting a  close  dairy.  Perhaps  half  the  charm  of  the  plant  consists 
in  the  pale  bluish-green  grass-like  leaves  with  a  bloom  on  the  sur- 
face, which  are  put  forth  so  abundantly  from  the  sterile  shoots. 
(See  blue  toad-flax,  p.  52.) 

Guided  by  the  orange  palate  pathfinder  to  where  the  curious, 
puzzling  flower  opens,  the  big  velvety  bumblebee  alights,  his 
weight  depressing  the  lower  lip  until  a  comfortable  entrance 
through  the  gaping  mouth  is  offered  him.  In  he  goes,  and  his 
long  tongue  readily  reaches  the  nectar  in  the  deep  spur,  while  his 
back  brushes  off  pollen  from  the  stamens  in  his  way  overhead. 
Then  he  backs  out,  and  the  gaping  mouth  springs  shut  after  him — 
for  the  linaria  is  akin  to  the  snapdragon  in  the  garden.  As  its  sta- 
mens are  of  two  lengths,  the  flower  is  able  to  fertilize  itself  in  stormy 
weather,  insects  failing  to  transfer  its  pollen.  To  drain  ten  of  these 
spurs  a  minute  is  no  difficult  task  for  the  bumblebee.  But  how 
slowly,  painfully,  the  little  light-weight  hive-bees  and  leaf-cutters 
squeeze  in  between  the  tight  lips  !  An  occasional  butterfly  inserts 
its  long,  thin  tongue,  and,  without  transferring  a  grain  of  pollen  for 
the  flower,  robs  it  of  sweets  clearly  intended  for  the  bumblebee 
alone.  Even  when  ants — the  worst  pilferers  extant — succeed  in 
entering,  they  cannot  reach  the  nectar,  owing  to  the  hairy  stock- 
ade bordering  the  groove  where  it  runs.  Beetles,  out  for  pollen,  also 
occasionally  steal  an  entrance,  if  nothing  more.  Grazing  cattle  let 
the  plant  alone  to  ripen  seed  in  peace,  for  it  secretes  disagreeable 
juices  in  its  cells— juices  that  were  once  mixed  with  milk  by 
farmers'  wives  to  poison  flies.  (Illustration,  p.  316.) 

332 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Downy  False  Foxglove 

(Dasystoma  flcwa)  Figwort  family 
(Gerardia  flcwa  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Pale  yellow,  i  %  to  2  in.  long ;  in  showy,  terminal,  leafy- 
bracted  racemes.  Calyx  bell-shaped,  5-toothed ;  corolla  fun- 
nel form,  the  5  lobes  spreading,  smooth  outside,  woolly 
within ;  4  stamens  in  pairs,  woolly ;  i  pistil.  Stem :  Grayish, 
downy,  erect,  usually  simple,  2  to  4  ft.  tall.  Leaves : 
Opposite,  lower  ones  oblong  in  outline,  more  or  less  irregu- 
larly lobed  and  toothed ;  upper  ones  small,  entire. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Gravelly  or  sandy  soil,  dry  thickets,  open  woods. 

Flowering  Season — July — August. 

Distribution — "Eastern  Massachusetts  to  Ontario  and  Wisconsin, 
south  to  southern  New  York,  Georgia,  and  Mississippi." 
(Britton  and  Brown.) 

In  the  vegetable  kingdom,  as  in  the  spiritual,  all  degrees  of 
backsliding  sinners  may  be  found,  each  branded  with  a  mark 
of  infamy  according  to  its  deserts.  We  have  seen  how  the 
dodder  vine  lost  both  leaf  and  roots  after  it  consented  to  live 
wholly  by  theft  of  its  hard-working  host's  juices  through  suckers 
that  penetrate  to  the  vitals;  how  the  Indian  pipe's  blanched  face 
tells  the  story  of  guilt  perpetrated  under  cover  of  darkness  in  the 
soil  below;  how  the  broom-rape  and  beech-drops  lost  their 
honest  green  color;  and,  finally,  the  foxgloves  show  us  plants 
with  their  faces  so  newly  turned  toward  the  path  of  perdition, 
their  larceny  so  petty,  that  only  the  expert  in  criminal  botany 
cases  condemns  them.  Like  its  cousins  the  gerardias  (p.  146), 
the  downy  false  foxglove  is  only  a  partial  parasite,  attaching  its 
roots  by  disks  or  suckers  to  the  roots  of  white  oak  or  witch 
hazel  (p.  302) ;  not  only  that,  but,  quite  as  frequently,  groping 
blindly  in  the  dark,  it  fastens  suckers  on  its  own  roots,  actually 
thieving  from  itself !  It  is  this  piratical  tendency  which  makes 
transplanting  of  foxgloves  into  our  gardens  so  very  difficult,  even 
when  lifted  with  plenty  of  their  beloved  vegetable  mould.  The 
term  false  foxglove,  it  should  be  explained,  is  by  no  means  one  of 
reproach  for  dishonesty;  it  was  applied  simply  to  distinguish  this 
group  of  plants  from  the  true  foxgloves  cultivated,  not  wild,  here, 
which  yield  digitalis  to  the  doctors. 

But  if  these  foxgloves  live  at  others'  expense,  there  are 
creatures  which  in  turn  prey  upon  them.  Caterpillars  of  a  peacock 
butterfly,  known  as  the  buckeye  (Junonia  coenia),  with  eye-like 
spots  on  its  tawny,  reddish-gray  wings,  divide  their  unwelcome 
attentions  between  various  species  of  plantain,  the  snapdragon 
in  the  garden,  gerardias,  and  foxgloves. 

333 


Yellow  and  Orange 

The  Smooth  False  Foxglove  (D.  Virginicd) — G.  querci folia 
of  Gray — which  delights  in  rich  woods,  moist  or  dry,  bears 
similar,  but  slightly  larger,  blossoms  on  a  smooth,  usually 
branched,  and  taller  stem,  whose  lower  leaves  especially  are 
much  cleft  (pinnatifid).  This  species  is  commoner  South  and 
West,  blooming  from  July  to  September.  All  the  foxgloves 
elevate  their  sticky  stigmas  to  the  mouth  of  their  tubes,  that  the 
pollen-dusted  bumblebee  may  leave  some  of  the  vitalizing  dust 
brought  from  another  flower  on  its  surface  before  she  turns  up- 
side down  and  enters  in  this  unusual  fashion  to  receive  a  fresh 
supply  on  her  way  to  the  nectar  in  the  base  of  the  tube.  Her 
pressure  against  the  pointed  anther-tips  causes  the  light,  dry  pol- 
len to  sift  out;  on  the  removal  of  her  piessure  the  gaping  chinks 
close  to  save  it  from  small  bees  and  flies.  It  falls  out,  therefore, 
only  when  the  bee  is  in  the  right  position  to  receive  it  for  export 
to  another  foxglove's  stigma.  Hairy  footholds  on  anthers  and 
filaments  are  provided  lest  the  bee  fall  while  reversed  and  sifting 
out  the  pollen. 

The  Fern-leaved  or  Lousewort  False  Foxglove  (D.  pedicula- 
ria) — G,  pedicularia  of  Gray — a  very  leafy  species  found  in  dry 
woods  and  thickets  from  the  Mississippi  and  Ontario  eastward  to 
the  Atlantic,  north  and  south,  has  all  its  leaves  once  or  twice  pin- 
natifid, the  lobes  much  cut  and  toothed.  It  is  a  rather  sticky, 
hairy,  slender,  and  much-branched  plant,  growing  from  one  to  four 
feet  tall;  the  broad,  trumpet-shaped,  yellow  flower,  which  is  sticky 
outside,  measures  an  inch  or  an  inch  and  a  half  long,  and  is  some- 
times almost  as  wide  across.  "The  most  abundant  visitor,  and 
the  one  for  which  the  flower  is  most  perfectly  adapted,"  says 
Professor  Robertson,  "\sBombusAmericanorum.  This  bee  always 
turns  head  downwards  on  entering  the  flower.  When  it  enters, 
or  backs  out,  the  basal  joints  of  its  legs  strike  the  tips  of  the  an- 
ther-cells, when  the  pollen  falls  out.  I  had  often  wondered  why 
this  bee  turned  upside  down  to  enter  the  flower.  ...  I  discov- 
ered that  the  form  of  the  flower  requires  it.  The  modification 
which  requires  the  bees  to  reverse  is  associated  with  the  peculiar 
mode  of  pollen  discharge.  Smaller  bumblebees  and  some  other 
bees  which  never  or  rarely  try  to  suck  hang  under  the  anthers 
and  work  out  the  pollen  by  striking  the  trigger-like  awns.  They 
reverse  of  their  own  accord,  since  they  are  so  small  they  are  not 
compelled  to  do  so  on  account  of  the  form  of  the  flower.  The  tube 
is  large  ...  so  that  most  bumblebee  workers  could  easily 
reach  the  nectar  if  the  tube  were  not  curved  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion from  that  of  most  flowers,  and  if  the  anthers  did  not  obstruct 
the  entrance."  Sometimes  small  bees,  despairing  of  getting  into 
the  tube  through  the  mouth,  suck  at  holes  in  the  flower's  sides,  be- 
cause legitimate  feasting  was  made  too  difficult  for  the  poor  little 
things.  The  ruby-throated  humming  bird,  hovering  a  second 

334 


Yellow  and  Orange 

above  the  tube,  drains  it  with  none  of  the  clown-like  performances 
exacted  from  the  bumblebee.  Pilfering  ants  find  death  as  speedy 
on  the  sticky  surfaces  here  as  on  any  catchfly. 

Greater  Bladderwort;   Hooded  Water-Milfoil; 
Pop-weed 

(Utricularia  vulgaris)  Bladderwort  family 

Flowers — Yellow,  about  /^  in.  across,  3  to  20  on  short  pedicels  in  a 
raceme  at  the  top  of  a  stout,  naked  scape  3  to  14  in.  high. 
Calyx  deeply  2-lobed  ;  corolla  2-lipped,  the  upper  lip  erect, 
the  lower  lip  larger,  its  palate  prominent,  the  lip  slightly  3- 
lobed,  and  spurred  at  the  base  ;  2  stamens  ;  i  pistil ;  the  stigma 
2-lipped.  Leaves:  Very  finely  divided  into  threadlike  seg- 
ments, bearing  little  air  bladders. 

Preferred  Habitat — Floating  free  in  ponds  and  slow  streams,  or 
rooting  in  mud. 

Flowering  Season — June — August. 

Distribution — Throughout  nearly  the  whole  of  North  America, 
Cuba,  and  Mexico.  Europe  and  Asia. 

Here  is  an  extraordinary  little  plant  indeed,  which,  by  its 
amazing  cleverness,  now  overruns  the  globe — one  of  the  higher 
order  of  intelligence  so  closely  akin  to  the  animals  that  the  gulf 
which  separates  such  from  them  seems  not  very  wide  after  all.  In 
studying  the  water-crowfoots  (p.  295)  and  other  aquatic  plants, 
we  learned  why  submerged  leaves  must  be  so  finely  cut ;  but  what 
mean  the  little  bladders  tipped  with  bristles  among  the  pop-weed's 
threadlike  foliage  ?  Formerly  these  were  regarded  as  mere  floats — 
a  thoughtless  theory,  for  branches  without  bladders  might  have  been 
observed  floating  perfectly.  It  is  now  known  they  are  traps  for 
capturing  tiny  aquatic  creatures  :  nearly  every  bladder  you  examine 
under  a  microscope  contains  either  minute  crustaceans  or  larvae, 
worms,  or  lower  organisms,  some  perhaps  still  alive,  but  most  of 
them  more  or  less  advanced  to  ward  putrefaction— a  stage  hastened, 
it  is  thought,  by  a  secretion  within  the  bladders;  for  the  plant  can- 
not digest  fresh  food ;  it  can  only  absorb,  through  certain  processes 
within  the  bladder's  walls,  the  fluid  products  of  decay.  The  little  in- 
sectivorous sundew  (see  f>.  193),  on  the  contrary,  not  only  digests, 
but  afterward  absorbs,  animal  matter.  Tiny  aquatic  creatures,  ever 
seeking  shelter  from  larger  ones  ready  to  devour  them,  enter  the 
pop-weed  bladders  by  bending  inward  the  free  edge  of  the  valve, 
which,  being  strongly  elastic,  snaps  shut  again  behind  them  in- 
stantly. ' '  Abandon  hope,  all  ye  who  enter  here, "  might  be  written 
above"  the  entrance.  No  victim  ever  escapes  from  that  prison. 
Scientists  are  not  agreed  that  the  bristles  draw  creatures  into  the 
bladder.  Whatever  touches  the  sensitive  valves  is  at  once  drawn 

335 


Yellow  and  Orange 

in.  "  To  show  how  closely  the  edge  fits,"  says  Charles  Darwin, 
"  I  may  mention  that  my  son  found  a  daphnia  which  had  inserted 
one  of  its  antennae  into  the  slit,  and  it  was  thus  held  fast  during  a 
whole  day.  On  three  or  four  occasions  I  have  seen  long  narrow 
larvae,  both  dead  and  alive,  wedged  between  the  corner  of  the  valve 
and  collar,  with  half  their  bodies  within  the  bladder  and  half  out." 
Professor  Cohn  of  Germany  tells  of  immersing  a  plant  of  this 
bladderwort  one  evening  in  clear  water  swarming  with  tiny  crus- 
taceans, and  by  the  next  morning  most  of  the  bladders  contained 
them,  entrapped  and  swimming  around  in  their  prisons. 

So  much  for  what  is  going  on  below  the  surface  of  the  water: 
what  above  it  ?  Several  flowers  on  the  showy  spike  attract  nu- 
merous insects.  One  alighting  on  the  lower  lip  must  thrust  his 
tongue  beneath  the  upper  one  to  reach  the  nectar  in  the  spur, 
passing  on  its  way  the  irritable  stigma,  which  receives  any  pollen 
he  has  brought  in.  Instantly  it  is  touched,  the  stigma  folds  up  to 
be  out  of  the  way  of  the  tongue  when  it  is  withdrawn  from  the 
spur  now  laden  with  fresh  pollen.  It  is  thus  that  self-fertilization 
is  escaped.  Many  vigorous  seeds  follow  in  each  capsule.  This 
marvellous  piece  of  mechanism  is  what  Thoreau  termed  "a  dirty- 
conditioned  flower,  like  a  sluttish  woman  with  a  gaudy  yellow 
bonnet"  ! 

Not  through  its  seeds  alone,  however,  has  the  little  plant 
succeeded  in  firmly  establishing  itself.  In  early  autumn  the  stems 
terminate  in  large  buds  which,  falling  off,  lie  dormant  all  winter 
at  the  bottom  of  the  pond.  In  spring  they  root  and  put  forth 
leaves  bearing  bladders,  which  at  this  stage  of  existence  are  filled 
with  water  to  help  anchor  the  plant.  As  flowering  season  ap- 
proaches, the  bladders  undergo  an  internal  change  to  fit  them  for 
a  change  of  function  ;  they  now  fill  with  air,  when  the  buoyed 
plant  rises  toward  the  surface  to  send  up  its  flowering  scape,  while 
the  bladders  proceed  with  their  nefarious  practices  to  nourish  it 
more  abundantly  while  its  system  is  heavily  taxed. 

The  Horned  Bladderwort  (£7.  cornuta),  found  in  sandy 
swamps,  along  the  borders  of  ponds,  marshy  lake-margins,  and  in 
bogs  from  Newfoundland  to  Florida,  westward  to  Minnesota  and 
Texas,  bears  from  one  to  six  deliciously  fragrant  yellow  flowers 
on  its  leafless  scape  from  June  to  August.  It  is  "  perhaps  the  most 
fragrant  flower  we  have,"  says  John  Burroughs.  "In  a  warm 
moist  atmosphere  its  odor  is  almost  too  strong.  ...  Its 
perfume  is  sweet  and  spicy  in  an  eminent  degree."  The  low 
scape,  rooting  in  the  mud,  has  some  rootlike  stems  and  branches, 
sometimes  with  a  few  entire  leaves  and  bladders.  Its  benefactors, 
bumblebees  and  butterflies,  with  their  highly  developed  aesthetic 
taste,  are  attracted  from  afar  by  this  pleasing  flower,  whose  acute, 
curved  spur  filled  with  nectar  may  not  be  drained  by  small  fry,  to 
whom  the  hairy  throat  is  an  additional  discouragement. 

336 


and  Orange 

Sweet  Wild  Honeysuckle,  or  Woodbine;  Italian 
or  Perfoliate  Honeysuckle 

(Lonicera  Caprifolium)  Honeysuckle  family 
(L  grata  of  Gray) 

Flowers — White  within,  the  tube  pinkish,  soon  fading  yellow,  i 
to  \Yz  in.  long,  very  fragrant;  borne  in  terminal  -whorls 
seated  in  the  united  pair  of  upper  leaves.  Calyx  small, 
5-toothed ;  corolla  slender,  tubular,  2-lipped  ;  upper  lip 
4-lobed  ;  lower  lip  narrow,  curved  downward  ;  5  stamens 
and  i  style  far  protruding.  Stem:  Climbing  high,  smooth. 
Leaves :  Upper  pairs  united  around  the  stem  into  an  oval 
disk  or  shallow  cup  ;  lower  leaves  opposite,  but  not  united  ; 
oval,  entire.  Fruit:  Red  berries,  clustered. 

Preferred  Habitat — Thickets,  wayside  hedges,  rocky  woodlands. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution — New  England  and  Michigan  to  the  Southern  States. 

"  Escaped  from  cultivation  and  naturalized."  How  does  it 
happen  that  this  vine,  a  native  of  Europe,  is  now  so  common  in 
the  Eastern  United  States  as  to  be  called  the  American  woodbine  ? 
Had  Columbus  been  a  botanist  and  wandered  about  our  continent 
in  search  of  flowers,  he  would  have  found  very  few  that  were 
familiar  to  him  at  home,  except  such  as  were  common  both  to 
Europe  and  Asia  also.  Where  the  Aleutian  Islands  jut  far  out 
into  the  Pacific,  and  the  strongest  of  ocean  currents  flows  our  way, 
must  once  have  been  a  substantial  highroad  for  beasts,  birds,  and 
vegetables,  if  not  for  men  as  well  ;  but  in  the  wide,  briny  Atlan- 
tic no  European  seed  could  live  long  enough  to  germinate  after 
drifting  across  to  our  shores,  if,  indeed,  it  ever  reached  here.  Once 
the  American  colonies  came  to  be  peopled  with  homesick  Euro- 
peans, who  sent  home  for  everything  portable  they  had  loved 
there,  enormous  numbers  of  trees,  shrubs,  plants,  and  seeds  were 
respectably  carried  across  in  ships  ;  the  seeds  of  others  stole  a 
passage,  as  they  do  this  day,  among  the  hay  used  in  packing. 
This  was  the  chance  for  expansion  they  had  been  waiting  for 
for  ages.  While  many  cultivated  species  found  it  practically  im- 
possible to  escape  from  the  vigilance  of  gardeners  here,  others, 
with  a  better  plan  for  disseminating  seed,  quickly  ran  wild.  Now 
some  of  the  commonest  plants  we  have  are  of  European  origin. 
This  honeysuckle,  by  bearing  red  berries  to  attract  migrating 
birds  in  autumn,  soon  escaped  the  confines  of  gardens.  Its  undi- 
gested seeds,  dropped  in  the  woodland  far  from  the  parent  vine, 
germinated  quite  as  readily  as  in  Europe,  and  pursued  in  peace 
their  natural  mode  of  existence,  until  here  too  we  now  have 
banks 

"  Quite  over-canopied  with  luscious  woodbine." 

22  337 


Yellow  and  Orange 

The  Hairy  Honeysuckle,  or  Rough  Woodbine  (L.  hirsitta), 
with  a  more  northerly  and  westerly  range,  bears  clusters  of 
flowers  that  are  yellow  on  the  outside,  and  orange  within  the 
tube,  the  terminal  clusters  slightly  elevated  above  a  united  pair  of 
dull  green  leaves  that  are  softly  hairy  underneath.  The  slender 
flower-tube  is  sticky  outside  to  protect  it  from  pilfering  ants,  and 
the  hairs  at  the  base  of  the  stamens  serve  to  hide  the  nectar  from 
unbidden  guests.  Berries,  bright  orange.  Flowering  season,  June 


deliciously  fragrant  Chinese  or  Japanese  Honeysuckle  (L. 
Japonica),  as  commonly  grown  on  garden  trellises  and  fences 
here  as  the  morning-glory,  has  freely  escaped  from  cultivation 
from  New  York  southward  to  West  Virginia  and  North  Carolina. 
Everyone  must  be  familiar  with  the  pairs  of  slender,  tubular,  two- 
lipped,  white  or  pinkish  flowers,  quickly  turning  yellow,  which 
are  borne  in  the  leaf  axils  along  the  sprays.  The  smooth,  dark 
green,  opposite  leaves,  pale  beneath,  cling  almost  the  entire  year 
through.  The  stem,  in  winding,  follows  the  course  taken  by  the 
hands  of  a  clock.  Were  the  berries  red  instead  of  black,  they 
would,  doubtless,  have  attracted  more  birds  to  disperse  their 
seeds,  and  the  vine  would  have  travelled  as  fast  in  its  wild  state 
as  the  Italian  honeysuckle  has  done.  It  blooms  from  June  to 
August,  and  sparingly  again  in  autumn. 

When  daylight  "begins  to  fade,  these  long,  slender-tubed 
buds  expand  to  welcome  their  chosen  benefactors,  the  sphinx 
moths,  wooing  them  with  fragrance  so  especially  strong  and 
sweet  at  this  time  that,  long  after  dark,  guests  may  be  guided  from 
afar  by  it  alone,  and  entertaining  them  with  copious  draughts  of 
deeply  hidden  nectar,  which  their  long  tongues  alone  may  drain. 
Poised  above  the  blossoms,  they  sip  without  pause  of  their  whir- 
ring wings,  and  it  is  not  strange  that  many  people  mistake  them 
in  the  half  light  for  humming-birds.  Indeed,  they  are  often 
called  humming-bird  moths.  Darting  away  suddenly  and  swift 
as  thought,  they  have  also  earned  the  name  of  hawk  moths.  Be- 
cause the  caterpillars  have  a  curious  trick  of  raising  the  fore  part 
of  their  bodies  and  remaining  motionless  so  long  (like  an  Egyptian 
sphinx),  the  commoner  name  seems  most  appropriate.  A  sphinx 
moth  at  rest  curls  up  its  exceedingly  long  tongue  like  a  watch- 
spring:  in  action  only  the  humming-bird  can  penetrate  to  such 
depths;  hence  that  honeysuckle  which  prefers  to  woo  the  tiny 
bird,  whose  decided  preference  is  for  red,  is  the  trumpet  or  coral 
honeysuckle;  whereas  the  other  twiners  developed  deep,  tubular 
flowers  that  are  white  or  yellow,  so  that  the  moths  may  see  them 
in  the  dark,  when  red  blossoms  are  engulfed  in  the  prevailing 
blackness.  Moreover,  the  latter  bloom  at  a  season  when  the 
crepuscular  and  nocturnal  moths  are  most  abundant.  Rough, 
rounded  pollen  grains,  carried  on  the  hairs  and  scales  on  the  under 
side  of  the  moth's  body  from  his  head  to  his  abdomen,  including 

338 


Yellow  and  Orange 

antennae,  tongue,  legs,  and  wings,  cannot  but  be  rubbed  off  on 
the  protruding  sticky  stigma  of  the  next  honeysuckle  tube  en- 
tered; hence  cross-fertilization  is  regularly  effected  by  moths 
alone.  The  next  day  such  interlopers  as  bees,  flies,  butterflies, 
and  even  the  outwitted  humming-bird,  may  take  whatever  nectar 
or  pollen  remains.  If  the  previous  evening  has  been  calm  and  fine, 
they  will  find  little  or  none;  but  if  the  night  has  been  wild  and 
stormy,  keeping  the  moths  under  cover,  the  tubes  will  brim  with 
sweets.  After  fertilization  the  corolla  turns  yellow  to  let  visitors 
know  the  mutual  benefit  association  has  gone  out  of  business. 


Bush  Honeysuckle;  Gravel-weed 

(Diervilla  Diervilla)  Honeysuckle  family 
(D.  trifida  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Yellow,  small,  fragrant,  i  to  5  (usually  3)  together  on 
a  peduncle  from  upper  leaf-axils.  Calyx  tube  slender,  elon- 
gated ;  corolla  narrowly  funnel-form,  about  #  in.  long,  its  5 
lobes  spreading,  3  of  them  somewhat  united  ;  5  stamens  ;  i 
pistil  projecting.  Stem :  A  smooth,  branching  shrub  2  to  4  ft. 
high.  Leaves  :  Opposite,  oval,  and  taper-pointed,  finely  saw- 
edged.  Fruit :  Slender,  beaked  pods  crowned  with  the  5  calyx 
lobes. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Dry  or  rocky  soil,  woodlands,  hills. 

Flowering  Season — May — August. 

Distribiition — British  Possessions  southward  to  Michigan  and 
North  Carolina. 

The  coral  honeysuckle  determined  to  woo  the  humming-bird 
by  wearing  his  favorite  color  ;  the  twining  white  and  yellow  honey- 
suckles of  our  porches  chose  for  their  benefactors  the  sphinx 
moths,  attracting  them  by  delicious  fragrance  and  deeply  hidden 
nectar  in  slender  tubes  that  are  visible  even  in  the  dark  ;  whereas 
the  small-flowered  bush  honeysuckles  still  cater  to  the  bees  which, 
in  all  probability,  once  sufficed  for  the  entire  family.  For  them  a 
conspicuous  landing  place  has  been  provided  in  the  more  highly 
colored  lower  lobe  of  this  flower,  from  which  the  visitor  cannot  fail 
to  find  the  pocket  full  of  nectar  that  swells  the  base  of  the  tube  ; 
but  when  he  alights,  pollen  laden  from  another  blossom,  he  must 
pay  toll  by  leaving  some  of  the  vitalizing  dust  on  the  projecting 
stigma  before  he  feasts  and  dusts  himself  afresh.  After  they  have 
been  plundered,  and  consequently  fertilized,  all  the  honeysuckles 
change  color,  this  one  taking  on  a  deeper  yellow  to  let  the  bees 
know  the  larder  is  empty,  that  they  may  waste  no  precious  time, 
but  confine  their  visits  where  they  are  needed.  "  Many  flowers 

339 


Yellow  and  Orange 

adapted  to  bees  show  butterflies,  hawk  moths  and  humming-birds 
as  intruders,"  says  Professor  Robertson  ;  "and  this  is  important, 
since  it  enables  us  to  understand  how  bee-flowers  might  become 
modified  to  suit  them  " — just  as  certain  of  the  honeysuckles  have 
done.  Once  the  Oriental  pink  weigelias,  grown  in  nearly  every 
American  garden,  were  thought  to  belong  to  the  Diervilla  clan, 
from  which  later-day  systematists  have  banished  them. 

The  Early  Fly  or  Twin  Honeysuckle  (Lonicera  ciliata),  found 
in  moist,  cool  woods  from  Pennsylvania  and  Michigan  far  north- 
ward, sends  forth  pairs  of  funnel-form,  honey-yellow  flowers, 
about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  long,  with  five,  regular  lobes,  on  a 
slender  footstalk  from  the  leaf  axils  in  May.  It  is  a  straggling, 
shrubby  bush  from  three  to  five  feet  tall.  The  opposite  leaves  are 
thin,  oval,  bright  green  on  both  sides,  the  edges  hairy  Two  little 
ovoid,  light  red  berries  follow  the  flowers. 

Another  species,  a  shrubby  Swamp  Fly-hone  v suckle  (L.  ob- 
longifolia),  found  in  wet  ground  and  bogs  throughout  a  similar 
range,  blooming  about  two  weeks  later,  coats  the  under  side  of  its 
young  leaves  with  fine  hairs  to  prevent  their  pores  from  clogging 
with  vapors  arising  from  its  moist  retreats.  The  little  pale  yellow 
flowers,  also  growing  in  pairs  on  a  footstalk  from  the  leaf  axils, 
have  their  tubular  corollas  strongly  cleft  into  two  lips.  Reddish 
markings  within  serve  as  pathfinders  for  the  bumblebee,  who 
finds  so  much  nectar  at  the  base  that  a  tiny  bulging  pocket  had 
to  be  provided  to  hold  it.  Sometimes  the  two  flowers  join  below 
like  Siamese  twins,  in  which  case  the  pair  of  crimson  berries  be- 
come more  or  less  united. 

"  So  we  grew  together, 
Like  to  a  double  cherry,  seeming  parted." 

One  occasionally  finds  the  pink  and  white  twin-flowered  Tar- 
tarian Bush  Honeysuckle  (L.  Tartarica)  escaped  from  cultivation 
in  the  Eastern  States  through  the  agency  of  birds  which  feast  upon 
its  little  round,  red,  translucent  berries. 


Common  Dandelion  ;    Blowball;    Lion's-tooth  ; 
Peasant's  Clock 

(Taraxacum  Taraxacum)  Chicory  family 
(T.  Dens-leonis  of  Gray) 

Flower-head—  Solitary,  golden  yellow,  i  to  2  in.  across,  containing 
150  to  200  perfect  ray  florets  on  a  flat  receptacle  at  the  top  of 
a  hollow,  milky  scape  2  to  18  in.  tall.  Leaves:  From  a  very 

340 


Yellow  and  Orange 

deep,  thick,  bitter  root ;  oblong  to  spatulate  in  outline,  irregu- 
larly jagged. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Lawns,  fields,  grassy  waste  places. 

Flowering  Season — Every  month  in  the  year. 

Distribution — Around  the  civilized  world. 

"  Dear  common  flower  that  grow'st  beside  the  way, 
Fringing  the  dusty  road  with  harmless  gold. 


Gold  such  as  thine  ne'er  drew  the  Spanish  prow 

Through  the  primeval  hush  of  Indian  seas, 
Nor  wrinkled  the  lean  brow 

Of  age,  to  rob  the  lover's  heart  of  ease. 
'Tis  the  spring's  largess,  which  she  scatters  now 

To  rich  and  poor  alike,  with  lavish  hand  ; 

Though  most  hearts  never  understand 
To  take  it  at  God's  value,  but  pass  by 
The  offered  wealth  with  unrewarded  eye." 

Let  the  triumphant  Anglo-Saxon  with  dreams  of  expansion 
that  include  the  round  earth,  the  student  of  sociology  who  wishes 
an  insight  into  cooperative  methods  as  opposed  to  individualism, 
the  young  man  anxious  to  learn  how  to  get  on,  parents  with 
children  to  be  equipped  for  the  struggle  for  existence,  business 
men  and  employers  of  labor,  all  sit  down  beside  the  dandelion 
and  take  its  lesson  to  heart.  How  has  it  managed  without  navies 
and  armies — for  it  is  no  imperialist — to  land  its  peaceful  legions  on 
every  part  of  the  civilized  world  and  take  possession  of  the  soil  ? 
How  can  this  neglected  wayside  composite  weed  triumph  over 
the  most  gorgeous  hothouse  individual  on  which  the  horticulturist 
expends  all  the  science  at  his  command  ;  to  flourish  where  others 
give  up  the  struggle  defeated  ;  to  send  its  vigorous  offspring 
abroad  prepared  for  similar  conquest  of  adverse  conditions  wher- 
ever met  ;  to  attract  myriads  of  customers  to  its  department  store, 
and  by  consummate  executive  ability  to  make  every  visitor  un- 
wittingly contribute  to  its  success?  Any  one  who  doubts  the 
dandelion's  fitness  to  survive,  should  humble  himself  by  spending 
days  and  weeks  on  his  knees,  trying  to  eradicate  the  plant  from 
even  one  small  lawn  with  a  knife,  only  to  find  the  turf  starred 
with  golden  blossoms,  or,  worse  still  from  his  point  of  view, 
hoary  with  seed  balloons,  the  following  spring. 

Deep,  very  deep,  the  stocky  bitter  root  penetrates  where  heat 
and  drought  affect  it  not,  nor  nibbling  rabbits,  moles,  grubs  of  in- 
sects, and  other  burrowers  break  through  and  steal.  Cut  off  the 
upper  portion  only  with  your  knife,  and  not  one,  but  several, 
plants  will  likely  sprout  from  what  remains  ;  and,  however  late  in 
the  season,  will  economize  stem  and  leaf  to  produce  flowers  and 
seeds,  cuddled  close  within  the  tuft,  that  set  all  your  pains  at 
naught.  "  Never  say  die  "  is  the  dandelion's  motto.  An  exceed- 
ingly bitter  medicine  is  extracted  from  the  root  of  this  dandelion, 

341 


Yellow  and  Orange 

formerly  known  as  T.  officinale.  Likewise  are  the  leaves  bitter. 
Although  they  appear  so  early  in  the  spring,  they  must  be  espe- 
cially tempting  to  grazing  cattle  and  predaceous  insects,  the  ro- 
settes remain  untouched,  while  other  succulent,  agreeable  plants 
are  devoured  wholesale.  Only  Italians  and  other  thrifty  Old- 
World  immigrants,  who  go  about  then  with  sack  and  knife  col- 
lecting the  fresh  young  tufts,  give  the  plants  pause  ;  but  even 
they  leave  the  roots  intact.  When  boiled  like  spinach  or  eaten 
with  French  salad  dressing,  the  bitter  juices  are  extracted  from  the 
leaves  or  disguised — mean  tactics  by  an  enemy  outside  the  dande- 
lion's calculation.  All  nations  know  the  plant  by  some  equivalent 
for  the  name  dent  de  lion  =  lion's  tooth,  which  the  jagged  edges 
of  the  leaves  suggest. 

Presently  a  hollow  scape  arises  to  display  the  flower  above 
the  surrounding  grass.  Bridge  builders  and  constructing  engi- 
neers know  how  yielding  and  economical,  yet  how  invincibly 
strong,  is  the  hollow  tube.  March  winds  may  buffet  and  bend 
the  dandelion's  stem  without  harm.  How  children  delight  to 
split  this  slippery  tube,  and  run  it  in  and  out  of  their  mouths 
until  curls  form  !  At  the  top  of  the  scape  is  a  double  involucre  of 
narrow,  green,  leaf-like  scales  similar  to  what  all  composites  have. 
Half  the  involucre  bends  downward  to  protect  the  flower  from 
crawling  pilferers,  half  stands  erect  to  play  the  role  for  the  com- 
munity of  florets  within  that  the  calyx  does  for  individual  blos- 
soms. When  it  is  time  to  close  the  dandelion  shop,  business  being 
ended  for  the  day,  this  upper-half  of  the  involucre  protects  it  like 
the  heavy  shutters  merchants  put  up  at  their  windows. 

Seated  on  a  fleshy  receptacle,  not  one  flower,  but  often  two 
hundred  minute,  perfect  florets  generously  cooperate.  "In  union 
there  is  strength  "  is  another  motto  adopted,  not  only  by  the  chicory 
clan,  but  by  the  entire  horde  of  composites.  Each  floret  of  itself 
could  hope  for  no  attention  from  busy  insects  ;  united,  how  gor- 
geously attractive  these  disks  of  overlapping  rays  are!  Doubtless 
each  tiny  flower  was  once  a  five-petalled  blossom,  for  in  the  five 
teeth  at  the  top  and  the  five  lines  are  indications  that  once  distinct 
parts  have  been  welded  together  to  form  a  more  showy  and  suit- 
able corolla.  Each  floret  insures  cross-pollination  from  insects 
crawling  over  the  head,  much  as  the  minute  yellow  tubes  in  the 
centre  of  a  daisy  do  (see  p.  27 1 ).  Quantities  of  small  bees,  wasps, 
flies,  butterflies,  and  beetles — over  a  hundred  species  of  insects — • 
come  seeking  the  nectar  that  wells  up  in  each  little  tube,  and  the 
abundant  pollen,  which  are  greatly  appreciated  in  early  spring, 
when  food  is  so  scarce.  In  rainy  weather  and  at  night,  when  its 
benefactors  are  not  flying,  the  canny  dandelion  closes  completely  to 
protect  its  precious  attractions.  Because  the  plant,  which  is  likely 
to  bloom  every  month  in  the  year,  may  not  always  certainly  reckon 
on  being  pollinated  by  insects,  each  neglected  floret  will  curl  the 
two  spreading,  sticky  branches  of  its  style  so  far  backward  that 

342 


Yellow  and  Orange 

they  come  In  contact  with  any  pollen  that  has  been  carried  out  of 
the  tube  by  the  sweeping  brushes  on  their  tips.  Occasional  self- 
fertilization  is  surely  better  than  setting  no  seed  at  all  when  insects 
fail.  Not  a  chance  does  the  dandelion  lose  to  "  get  on." 

After  flowering,  it  again  looks  like  a  bud,  lowering  its  head 
to  mature  seed  unobserved.  Presently  rising  on  a  gradually 
lengthened  scape  to  elevate  it  where  there  is  no  interruption  for 
the  passing  breeze  from  surrounding  rivals,  the  transformed  head, 
now  globular,  white,  airy,  is  even  more  exquisite,  set  as  it  is  with 
scores  of  tiny  parachutes  ready  to  sail  away.  A  child's  breath 
puffing  out  the  time  of  day,  a  vireo  plucking  at  the  fluffy  ball  for 
lining  to  put  in  its  nest,  the  summer  breeze,  the  scythe,  rake,  and 
mowing  machines,  sudden  gusts  of  winds  sweeping  the  country 
before  thunderstorms — these  are  among  the  agents  that  set  the 
flying  vagabonds  free.  In  the  hay  used  for  packing  they  travel  to 
foreign  lands  in  ships,  and,  once  landed,  readily  adapt  themselves 
to  conditions  as  they  find  them.  After  soaking  in  the  briny  ocean 
for  twenty-eight  days — long  enough  for  a  current  to  carry  them 
a  thousand  miles  along  the  coast — they  are  still  able  to  germinate. 

The  Dwarf  Dandelion,  Cynthia,  or  Virginia  Goatsbeard  (Ade- 
pogon  Virginicum) — formerly  Krigia  Virginica — with  from  two  to 
six  long-peduncled,  flat,  deep  yellow  or  reddish-orange  flower 
heads,  about  an  inch  and  a  half  across,  on  the  summit  of  its  stem 
from  May  to  October,  elects  to  grow  in  moist  meadows,  wood- 
lands, and  shady  rocky  places.  How  it  glorifies  them!  From  a 
tuffet  of  spatulate,  wavy-toothed  or  entire  leaves,  the  smooth, 
shining,  branching  stem  arises,  bearing  a  single  oblong,  clasping 
leaf  below  the  middle.  Particularly  beautiful  is  its  silvery  seed- 
ball,  the  pappus  consisting  of  about  a  dozen  hairlike  bristles  inside 
a  ring  of  small  oblong  scales,  on  which  the  seed  sails  away.  Range, 
from  Massachusetts  to  Manitoba,  south  to  Georgia  and  Kansas. 

A  charming  little  plant,  the  Carolina  Dwarf  Dandelion  or 
Krigia  (A.  Carolinianum},  once  confounded  with  the  above, 
sends  up  several  unbranched  scapes  from  the  same  tuffet.  It 
blooms  in  dry,  sandy  soil  from  April  to  August,  from  Maine  and 
Minnesota  to  the  Gulf  States. 

Like  a  small  edition  of  Lowell's  "dear  common  flower"  is 
the  Tall  Dandelion,  or  Autumnal  Hawkbit  (Leontodon  autumnale), 
its  slender,  wiry,  branching  scape  six  inches  to  two  feet  high, 
terminated  by  several  flower-heads,  each  on  a  separate  peduncle, 
which  is  usually  a  little  thickened  and  scaly  just  below  it.  Only 
forty  to  seventy  five-toothed  ray  florets  spread  in  a  flat  golden 
disk  from  an  oblong  involucre.  They  close  in  rainy  weather  and 
at  night.  From  June  to  November,  in  spite  of  its  common  name, 

343 


Yellow  and  Orange 

it  blooms  in  fields  and  along  roadsides,  its  brownish  seed-plumes 
rapidly  following  ;  but  these  are  produced  at  the  frightfully  extrava- 
gant cost  of  over  two  hundred  thousand  grains  of  pollen  to  each 
head,  it  is  estimated.  The  Greek  generic  name,  meaning  lion's 
tooth,  refers  to  the  shape  of  the  lobes  of  the  narrowly  oblong  leaves 
in  a  tuft  at  the  base.  Range,  from  New  Jersey  and  Ohio  far 
northward.  Naturalized  from  Europe  and  Asia. 

Field  Sow-thistle;  Milk  Thistle 

(Sonchus  arvensis)  Chicory  family 

Flower-heads — Bright  yellow,  very  showy,  i  to  2.  in.  across, 
several  or  numerous,  on  rough  peduncles  in  a  spreading 
cluster.  Involucre  nearly  i  in.  high;  the  scales  narrow, 
rough.  Stem :  2  to  4  ft.  high,  leafy  below,  naked,  and  panicu- 
lately  branched  above,  from  deep  roots  and  creeping  root- 
stocks.  Leaves:  Long,  narrow,  spiny,  but  not  sharp-toothed; 
deeply  cut,  mostly  clasping  at  base. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Meadows,  fields,  roadsides,  salt-water  marshes. 

Flowering  Season — July — October. 

Distribution — Newfoundland  to  Minnesota  and  Utah,  south  to  New 
Jersey. 

It  cannot  be  long,  at  their  present  rate  of  increase,  before  this 
and  its  sister  immigrant  become  very  common  weeds  throughout 
our  entire  area,  as  they  are  in  Europe  and  Asia. 

The  Annual  Sow-thistle,  or  Hare's  Lettuce  (5.  oleraceus),  its 
smaller,  pale  yellow  flower-heads,  with  smooth  involucres  more 
closely  grouped,  now  occupies  our  fields  and  waste  places  with 
the  assurance  of  a  native.  Honey-bees  chiefly,  but  many  other 
bees,  wasps,  brilliant  little  flower-flies  (Syrphidae},  and  butter- 
flies among  other  winged  visitors  which  alight  on  the  flowers, 
from  May  to  November,  are  responsible  for  the  copious,  soft,  fine, 
white-plumed  seeds  that  the  winds  waft  away  to  fresh  colonizing 
ground.  The  leaves  clasp  the  stem  by  deep  ear-like  or  arrow- 
shaped  lobes,  or  the  large  lower  ones  are  on  petioles,  lyrate-pin- 
natifid,  the  terminal  division  commonly  large  and  triangular;  the 
margins  all  toothed.  Frugal  European  peasants  use  them  as  a  pot- 
herb or  salad.  One  of  the  plant's  common  folk-names  in  the  Old 
World  is  hare's  palace.  According  to  the  "Crete  Herbale,"  if 
"the  hare  come  under  it,  he  is  sure  no  beast  can  touch  hym." 
That  was  the  spot  Brer  Rabbit  was  looking  for  when  Brer  Fox 
lay  low!  Another  early  writer  declares  that  "when  hares  are 
overcome  with  heat  they  eat  of  an  herb  called  hare's-lettuce, 
hare's-house,  hare's-palace;  and  there  is  no  disease  in  this  beast 
the  cure  whereof  she  does  not  seek  for  in  this  herb."  Who  has 
detected  our  cotton-tails  nibbling  the  succulent  leaves  ? 

344 


Yellow  and  Orange 


Tall  or  Wild  Lettuce;  Wild  Opium 

(Lactuca  Canadensis)  Chicory  family 

Flower-heads — Numerous,  small,  about  X  in-  across,  involucre  cyl- 
indric,  rays  pale  yellow  ;  followed  by  abundant,  soft,  bright 
white  pappus  ;  the  heads  growing  in  loose,  branching,  ter- 
minal clusters.  Stem :  Smooth,  3  to  10  ft.  high,  leafy  up  to 
the  flower  panicle  ;  juice  milky.  Leaves:  Upper  ones  lance 
shaped  ;  lower  ones  often  i  ft.  long,  wavy-lpbed,  often  pin- 
natifid,  taper  pointed,  narrowed  into  flat  petioles. 

Preferred  Habitat — Moist,  open  ground  ;  roadsides. 

Flowering  Season — June — November. 

Distribution — Georgia,  westward  to  Arkansas,  north  to  the  British 
Possessions. 

Few  gardeners  allow  the  table  lettuce  (sativa)  to  go  to  seed  ; 
but  as  it  is  next  of  kin  to  this  common  wayside  weed,  it  bears  a 
strong  likeness  to  it  in  the  loose,  narrow  panicles  of  cream-colored 
flowers,  followed  by  more  charming,  bright  white  little  pompons. 
Where  the  garden  varieties  originated,  or  what  they  were,  nobody 
knows.  Herodotus  says  lettuce  was  eaten  as  a  salad  in  550  B.C.  ; 
in  Pliny's  time  it  was  cultivated,  and  even  blanched,  so  as  to  be 
had  at  all  seasons  of  the  year  by  the  Romans.  Among  the  privy- 
purse  expenses  of  Henry  VIII.  is  a  reward  to  a  certain  gardener 
for  bringing  "lettuze  "  and  cherries  to  Hampton  Court.  Quaint 
old  Parkinson,  enumerating  "the  vertues  of  the  lettice,"  says, 
"They  all  cool  a  hot  and  fainting  stomache."  When  the  milky 
juice  has  been  thickened  (lactucarium),  it  is  sometimes  used  as  a 
substitute  for  opium  by  regular  practitioners — a  fluid  employed  by 
the  plants  themselves,  it  is  thought,  to  discourage  creatures  from 
feasting  at  their  expense  (see  milkweed,  p.  137).  Certain  cater- 
pillars, however,  eat  the  leaves  readily  ;  but  offer  lettuce  or  poppy 
foliage  to  grazing  cattle,  and  they  will  go  without  food  rather 
than  touch  it. 

"  What's  one  man's  poison.  Signer, 
Is  another's  meat  or  drink." 

Rabbits,  for  example,  have  been  fed  on  the  deadly  nightshade 
for  a  week  without  injury. 


The  Hairy  or  Red  Wild  Lettuce  (L.  hirsuta),  similar  to  the 
preceding,  but  often  with  dark  reddish  stem,  peduncles,  and  tiny 
flower-cups,  the  ray  florets  varying  from  yellow  to  pale  reddish 
or  purplish,  has  longer  leaves,  deeply  cut  or  lobed  almost  to  the 

345 


Yellow  and  Orange 

wide  midrib.  After  what  we  learned  when  studying  the  bar- 
berry and  the  prickly  pear  cactus,  for  example,  about  plants  that 
choose  to  live  in  dry  soil,  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  that  this  is  a 
lower,  less  leafy,  and  more  hairy  plant  than  the  moisture-loving 
tall  lettuce. 


An  European  immigrant,  naturalized  here  but  recently,  the 
Prickly  Lettuce  (L.  Scariola)  has  nevertheless  made  itself  so  very 
much  at  home  in  a  short  time  that  it  has  already  become  a  trouble- 
some weed  from  New  England  to  Pennsylvania,  westward  to 
Minnesota  and  Missouri.  But  when  we  calculate  that  every 
plant  produces  over  eight  thousand  fluffy  white- winged  seeds  on 
its  narrow  panicle,  ready  to  sail  away  on  the  first  breeze,  no 
wonder  so  well  endowed  and  prolific  an  invader  marches  triumph- 
antly across  continents.  The  long,  pale  green,  spiny-margined, 
milky  leaves,  with  stiff  prickles  on  the  midrib  beneath,  are  doubly 
protected  against  insect  borers  and  grazing  cattle. 

"  Look  at  this  delicate  plant  that  lifts  its  head  from  the  meadow  ; 
See  how  its  leaves  all  point  to  the  North  as  true  as  the  magnet." 

While  Longfellow  must  have  had  the  coarse-growing,  yellow- 
flowered,  daisy-like  prairie  rosin-weed  (Silphium  laciniatum)  in 
mind  when  he  wrote  this  stanza  of  "  Evangeline,"  his  lines  apply 
with  more  exactness  to  the  delicate  prickly  lettuce,  our  eastern 
compass  plant.  Not  until  1895  did  Professor  J.  C.  Arthur  discover 
that  when  the  garden  lettuce  is  allowed  to  flower,  its  stem  leaves 
also  exhibit  polarity.  The  great  lower  leaves  of  the  rosin-weed, 
which  stand  nearly  vertical,  with  their  faces  to  the  east  and  west, 
and  their  edges  to  the  north  and  south,  have  directed  many  a 
traveller,  not  from  Acadia  only,  across  the  prairie  until  it  has  earned 
the  titles  pilot-weed,  compass  or  polar  plant.  Various  theories 
have  been  advanced  to  account  for  the  curious  phenomenon,  some 
claiming  that  the  leaves  contained  sufficient  iron  to  reader  them 
magnetic — a  theory  promptly  exploded  by  chemical  analysis. 
Others  supposed  that  the  resinous  character  of  the  leaves  made 
them  susceptible  to  magnetic  influence  ;  but  as  rosin  is  a  non-con- 
ductor of  electricity,  of  course  this  hypothesis  likewise  proved 
untenable.  At  last  Dr.  Asa  Gray  brought  forward  the  only  sensi- 
ble explanation  :  inasmuch  as  both  surfaces  of  the  rosin-weed 
leaf  are  essentially  alike,  there  being  very  nearly  as  many  stomata 
on  the  upper  side  as  on  the  under,  both  surfaces  are  equally  sensi- 
tive to  sunlight ;  therefore  the  leaf  twists  on  its  petiole  until 
both  sides  share  it  as  equally  as  is  possible.  While  the  polarity 
of  the  prickly  lettuce  leaves  is  by  no  means  so  marked,  Dr. 
Gray's  theory  about  the  rosin-weed  may  be  applied  to  them  as 
well. 

346 


GOLDEN    ASTER 

Mariana) 


RATTLESNAKE-WEED 
(Hieracium  venosum) 


SWEET-SCENTED    GOLDEN-ROD 
(.Solidago  odora) 


BLUE-STEMMED    OR    WREATH    GOLDEN-ROD 
(Solidago  caesia) 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Orange  or  Tawny  Hawkweed ;  Golden  Mouse- 
ear  Hawkweed;   Devil's  Paint-brush 

(Hieracium  aurantiacum)  Chicory  family 

Flower-heads — Reddish  orange  ;  i  in.  across  or  less,  the  5-toothed 
rays  overlapping  in  several  series  ;  several  heads  on  short 
peduncles  in  a  terminal  cluster.  Stem:  Usually  leafless,  or 
with  i  to  2  small  sessile  leaves  ;  6  to  20  in.  high,  slender, 
hairy,  from  a  tuft  of  hairy,  spatulate,  or  oblong  leaves  at  the 
base. 

Preferred  Habitat — Fields,  woods,  roadsides,  dry  places. 

Flowering  Season — June — September. 

Distribiition — Pennsylvania  and  Middle  States  northward  into 
British  Possessions. 

Peculiar  reddish-orange  disks,  similar  in  shade  to  the  butter- 
fly weed's  umbels,  attract  our  eyes  no  less  than  those  of  the  bees, 
flies,  and  butterflies  for  whom  such  splendor  was  designed.  After 
cross-fertilization  has  been  effected,  chiefly  through  the  agency  of 
the  smaller  bees,  a  single  row  of  slender,  brownish,  persistent 
bristles  attached  to  the  seeds  transforms  the  head  into  the  "devil's 
paint-brush."  Another  popular  title  in  England,  from  whence  the 
plant  originally  came,  is  Grimm  the  Collier.  .All  the  plants  in  this 
genus  take  their  name  from  hierax  —  a  hawk,  because  people  in 
the  old  country  once  thought  that  birds  of  prey  swooped  earth- 
ward to  sharpen  their  eyesight  with  leaves  of  the  hawkweed, 
hawkbit,  or  speerhawk,  as  they  are  variously  called.  Transplanted 
into  the  garden,  the  orange  hawkweed  forms  a  spreading  mass  of 
unusual,  splendid  color. 

The  Rattlesnake-weed,  Early  or  Vein-leaf  Hawkweed,  Snake 
or  Poor  Robin's  Plantain  (H.  -venosum},  with  flower-heads  only 
about  half  an  inch  across,  sends  up  a  smooth,  slender  stem,  pan- 
iculately  branched  above,  to  display  the  numerous  dandelion- 
yellow  disks  as  early  as  May,  although  October  is  not  too  late  to 
find  this  generous  bloomer  in  pine  woodlands,  dry  thickets,  and 
sandy  soil.  Purplish-veined  oval  leaves,  more  or  less  hairy,  that 
spread  in  a  tuft  next  the  ground,  are  probably  as  efficacious  in 
curing  snake  bites  as  those  of  the  rattlesnake  plantain  (see  p.  168). 
When  a  credulous  generation  believed  that  the  Creator  had  indi- 
cated with  some  sign  on  each  plant  the  special  use  for  which  each 
was  intended,  many  leaves  were  found  to  have  veinings  suggest- 
ing the  marks  on  a  snake's  body  ;  therefore,  by  simple  reasoning, 
they  must  extract  venom.  How  delightful  is  faith  cure  ! 

Unlike  the  preceding,  the  Canada  Hawkweed  (H.  Canadense\ 

347 


Yellow  and  Orange 

lacks  a  basal  tuft  at  flowering  time,  but  its  firm  stem,  that  may  be 
any  height  from  one  to  five  feet,  is  amply  furnished  with  oblong 
to  lance-shaped  leaves  seated  on  it,  their  midrib  prominent,  the 
margins  sparingly  but  sharply  toothed.  In  dry,  open  woods  and 
thickets,  and  along  shady  roadsides,  its  loosely  clustered  heads  of 
clear  yellow,  about  one  inch  across,  are  displayed  from  July  to 
September  ;  and  later  the  copious  brown  bristles  remain  for  spar- 
rows to  peck  at. 

The  Rough  Hawkweed  (H.  scabrum],  with  a  stout,  stiff  stem 
crowned  with  a  narrow  branching  cluster  of  small  yellow  flower- 
heads  on  dark  bristly  peduncles,  also  lacks  a  basal  tuft  at  flower- 
ing time.  Its  hairy  oblong  leaves  are  seated  on  the  rigid  stem. 
In  dry,  open  places,  clearings,  and  woodlands  from  Nova  Scotia  to 
Georgia,  and  westward  to  Nebraska,  it  blooms  from  July  to  Sep- 
tember. 

More  slender  and  sprightly  is  the  Hairy  Hawkweed  (H.  Gro- 
novii),  common  in  sterile  soil  from  Massachusetts  and  Illinois  to 
the  Gulf  States.  The  basal  leaves  and  lower  part  of  the  stiff  stem, 
especially,  are  hairy,  not  to  allow  too  free  transpiration  of  precious 
moisture. 

Golden  Aster 

(Chrysopsis  Mariana)  Thistle  family 

Flower-heads — Composite,  yellow,  I  in.  wide  or  less,  a  few  cor- 
ymbed  flowers  on  glandular  stalks  ;  each  composed  of  per- 
fect tubular  disk  florets  surrounded  by  pistillate  ray  florets  ; 
the  involucre  campanulate,  its  narrow  bracts  overlapping  in 
several  series.  Stem :  Stout,  silky-hairy  when  young,  nearly 
smooth  later,  i  to  2*/2  ft.  tall.  Leaves :  Alternate,  oblong  to 
spatulate,  entire. 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry  soil,  or  sandy,  not  far  inland. 

Floivering  Season — August — September. 

Distribution — Long  Island  and  Pennsylvania  to  the  Gulf  States. 

Whoever  comes  upon  clumps  of  these  handsome  flowers  by 
the  dusty  roadside  cannot  but  be  impressed  with  the  appropriate- 
ness of  their  generic  name  (Chrysos  —  gold  ;  opsis  =  aspect).  Far- 
ther westward,  north  and  south,  it  is  the  Hairy  Golden  Aster  (C 
villosa),  a  pale,  hoary-haired  plant  with  similar  flowers  borne  at 
midsummer,  that  is  the  common  species. 

Golden-rods 

(Solidago)  Thistle  family 

When  these  flowers  transform  whole  acres  into  "  fields  of  the 
cloth-of-gold,"  the  slender  wands  swaying  by  every  roadside,  and 

348 


Yellow  and  Orange 

purple  asters  add  the  final  touch  of  imperial  splendor  to  the  autumn 
landscape,  already  glorious  with  gold  and  crimson,  is  any  parterre 
of  Nature's  garden  the  world  around  more  gorgeous  than  that 
portion  of  it  we  are  pleased  to  call  ours  ?  Within  its  limits  eighty- 
five  species  of  golden-rod  flourish,  while  a  few  have  strayed  into 
Mexico  and  South  America,  and  only  two  or  three  belong  to 
Europe,  where  many  of  ours  are  tenderly  cultivated  in  gardens,  as 
they  should  be  here,  had  not  Nature  been  so  lavish.  To  name  all 
these  species,  or  the  asters,  the  sparrows,  and  the  warblers  at  sight 
is  a  feat  probably  no  one  living  can  perform  ;  nevertheless,  cer- 
tain of  the  commoner  golden-rods  have  well-defined  peculiarities 
that  a  little  field  practice  soon  fixes  in  the  novice's  mind. 

Along  shady  roadsides,  and  in  moist  woods  and  thickets, 
from  August  to  October,  the  Blue-stemmed,  Wreath,  or  Woodland 
Golden-rod  (5.  caesia)  sways  an  unbranched  stem  with  a  bluish 
bloom  on  it.  It  is  studded  with  pale  golden  clusters  of  tiny  florets  in 
the  axils  of  lance-shaped,  feather-veined  leaves  for  nearly  its  entire 
length.  Range  from  Maine,  Ontario,  and  Minnesota  to  the  Gulf 
States.  None  is  prettier,  more  dainty,  than  this  common  species. 

In  rich  woodlands  and  thicket  borders  we  find  the  Zig-zag 
or  Broad-leaved  Golden-rod  (S.  flexicaulis) — 5.  latifolia  of  Gray 
— its  prolonged,  angled  stem  that  grows  as  if  waveringly  uncer- 
tain of  the  proper  direction  to  take,  strung  with  small  clusters  of 
yellow  florets,  somewhat  after  the  manner  of  the  preceding  species. 
But  its  saw-edged  leaves  are  ovate,  sharply  tapering  to  a  point, 
and  narrowed  at  the  base  into  petioles.  It  blooms  from  July  to 
September.  Range  from  New  Brunswick  to  Georgia,  and  west- 
ward beyond  the  Mississippi. 

During  the  same  blooming  period,  and  through  a  similar  range, 
our  only  albino,  with  an  Irish-bull  name,  the  White  Golden-rod,  or 
more  properly  Silver-rod  (5.  bicolor),  cannot  be  mistaken.  Its 
cream-white  florets  also  grow  in  little  clusters  from  the  upper  axils 
of  a  usually  simple  and  hairy  gray  stem  six  inches  to  four  feet 
high.  Most  of  the  heads  are  crowded  in  a  narrow,  terminal  pyram- 
idal cluster.  This  plant  approaches  more  nearly  the  idea  of  a  rod 
than  its  relatives.  The  leaves,  which  are  broadly  oblong  toward 
the  base  of  the  stem,  and  narrowed  into  long  margined  petioles, 
are  frequently  quite  hairy,  for  the  silver-rod  elects  to  live  in  dry 
soil,  and  its  juices  must  be  protected  from  heat  and  too  rapid 
transpiration. 

In  swamps  and  peat  bogs  the  Bog  Golden-rod  (S.  uliginosa) 
sends  up  two  to  four  feet  high  a  densely  flowered,  oblong,  ter- 
minal spire,  its  short  branches  so  appressed  that  this  stem  also  has 
a  wand-like  effect.  The  leaves,  which  are  lance-shaped  or  oblong, 
gradually  increase  in  size  and  length  of  petiole  until  the  lowest 
often  measure  nine  inches  long.  Season,  July  to  September. 
Range,  from  Newfoundland  to  Pennsylvania,  and  westward  be- 
yond the  Mississippi. 

349 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Now  we  leave  the  narrow,  unbranched,  wand  golden-rods 
strung  with  clusters  of  minute  florets,  which,  however  slender 
and  charming,  are  certainly  far  less  effective  in  the  landscape  than 
the  following  members  of  their  clan  which  have  their  multitudes 
of  florets  arranged  in  large,  compound,  more  or  less  widely 
branching,  terminal,  pyramidal  clusters.  On  this  latter  plan  the 
Showy  or  Noble  Golden-rod  (5.  speciosa)  displays  its  splendid, 
dense,  ascending  branches  of  bloom  from  August  to  October. 
European  gardeners  object  to  planting  golden-rods,  complaining 
that  they  so  quickly  impoverish  a  rich  bed  that  neighboring  plants 
starve.  This  noble  species  becomes  ignoble  indeed,  unless  grown 
in  rich  soil,  when  it  spreads  in  thrifty  circular  tufts.  The  stout  stem, 
which  often  assumes  reddish  tints,  rises  from  three  to  seven  feet 
high,  and  the  smooth,  firm,  broadly  oval,  saw-toothed  lower  leaves 
are  long-petioled.  Range,  from  Nova  Scotia  to  the  Carolinas,  west- 
ward to  Nebraska. 

When  crushed  in  the  hand,  the  dotted,  bright  green,  lance- 
shaped,  entire  leaves  of  the  Sweet  Golden-rod  or  Blue  Mountain 
Tea  (5.  odora)  cannot  be  mistaken,  for  they  give  forth  a  pleasant 
anise  scent.  The  slender,  simple,  smooth  stem  is  crowned  with 
a  graceful  panicle,  whose  branches  have  the  florets  seated  all  on 
one  side.  Dry  soil.  New  England  to  the  Gulf  States.  July  to 
September. 

The  Wrinkle-leaved  or  Tall,  Hairy  Golden-rod  or  Bitterweed 
(S.  rngosd),  a  perversely  variable  species,  its  hairy  stem  perhaps 
only  a  foot  high,  or,  maybe,  over  seven  feet,  its  rough  leaves 
broadly  oval  to  lance-shaped,  sharply  saw-edged,  few  if  any 
furnished  with  footstems,  lifts  a  large,  compound,  and  gracefully 
curved  panicle,  whose  florets  are  seated  on  one  side  of  its  spread- 
ing branches.  Sometimes  the  stem  branches  at  the  summit.  One 
usually  finds  it  blooming  in  dry  soil  from  July  to  November, 
throughout  a  range  extending  from  Newfoundland  and  Ontario 
to  the  Gulf  States. 

Usually  the  Elm-leaved  Golden-rod  (5.  ulmifolia)  sends  up 
several  slender,  narrow  spires  of  deep  yellow  bloom  from  about 
the  same  point  at  the  summit  of  the  smooth  stem,  like  long, 
tapering  fingers.  Small,  oblong,  entire  leaves  are  seated  on  these 
elongated  sprays,  while  below  the  inflorescence  the  large  leaves 
taper  to  a  sharp  point,  and  are  coarsely  and  sharply  toothed.  In 
woods  and  copses  from  Maine  and  Minnesota  to  Georgia  and 
Texas  this  common  golden-rod  blooms  from  July  to  September. 

The  unusually  beautiful,  spreading,  recurved,  branching 
panicle  of  bloom  borne  by  the  Early,  Plume,  or  Sharp-toothed 
Golden-rod  or  Yellow-top  (S.  juncea),  so  often  dried  for  winter 
decoration,  may  wave  four  feet  high,  but  usually  not  over  two,  at 
the  summit  of  a  smooth,  rigid  stem.  Toward  the  top,  narrow, 
elliptical,  uncut  leaves  are  seated  on  the  stalk  ;  below,  much  larger 
leaves,  their  sharp  teeth  slanting  forward,  taper  into  a  broad  peti- 

350 


Yellow  and  Orange 

pie,  whose  edges  may  be  cut  like  fringe.  In  dry,  rocky  soil  this 
is,  perhaps,  the  first  and  last  golden-rod  to  bloom,  having  been 
found  as  early  as  June,  and  sometimes  lasting  into  November. 
Range,  from  North  Carolina  and  Missouri  very  far  north. 

West  of  the  Mississippi  how  beautiful  are  the  dry  prairies  in 
autumn  with  the  Missouri  Golden-rod  (5.  Missouriensis),  its  short, 
broad,  spreading  panicle  waving  at  the  summit  of  a  smooth,  slen- 
der stem  from  two  to  five  feet  tall.  Its  firm,  rather  thick  leaves 
are  lance-shaped,  triple-nerved,  entire,  very  rough-margined,  or 
perhaps  the  lowest  ones  with  a  few  scattered  teeth. 

Perhaps  the  commonest  of  all  the  lovely  clan  east  of  the 
Mississippi,  or  throughout  a  range  extending  from  Arizona  and 
Florida  northward  to  British  Columbia  and  New  Brunswick,  is 
the  Canada  Golden-rod  or  Yellow-weed  (5.  Canadensis).  Surely 
everyone  must  be  familiar  with  the  large,  spreading,  dense-flow- 
ered panicle,  with  recurved  sprays,  that  crowns  a  rough,  hairy  stem 
sometimes  eight  feet  tall,  or  again  only  two  feet.  Its  lance- 
shaped,  acutely  pointed,  triple-nerved  leaves  are  rough,  and  the 
lower  ones  saw-edged.  From  August  to  November  one  cannot 
fail  to  find  it  blooming  in  dry  soil.  (Illustration,  p.  362.) 

Most  brilliantly  colored  of  its  tribe  is  the  low-growing  Gray 
or  Field  Golden-rod  or  Dyer's  Weed  (S.  nemoralis).  The  rich, 
deep  yellow  of  its  little  spreading,  recurved,  and  usually  one- 
sided panicles  is  admirably  set  off  by  the  ashy  gray,  or  often 
cottony,  stem,  and  the  hoary,  grayish-green  leaves  in  the  open, 
sterile  places  where  they  arise  from  July  to  November.  Quebec 
and  the  Northwest  Territory  to  the  Gulf  States. 

No  longer  classed  as  a  true  Solidago,  but  the  type  of  a  distinct 
genus,  the  Lance-leaved  (formerly  5.  lanceolata),  Bushy,  or  Fra- 
grant Golden-rod  (Euthamia  graminifolia)  lifts  its  flat-topped, 
tansy-like,  fragrant  clusters  of  flower-heads  from  two  to  four  feet 
above  moist  ground.  From  July  to  September  it  transforms  whole 
river-banks,  low  fields,  and  roadsides  into  a  veritable  El  Dorado. 
Its  numerous  leaves  are  very  narrow,  lance-shaped,  triple  or  five 
nerved,  uncut,  sometimes  with  a  few  resinous  dots.  Range,  from 
New  Brunswick  to  the  Gulf,  and  westward  to  Nebraska. 

"  Along  the  roadside,  like  the  flowers  of  gold 

That  tawny  Incas  for  their  gardens  wrought, 
Heavy  with  sunshine  droops  the  golden-rod. " 

Bewildered  by  the  multitude  of  species,  and  wondering  at 
the  enormous  number  of  representatives  of  many  of  them,  we 
cannot  but  inquire  into  the  cause  of  such  triumphal  conquest  of  a 
continent  by  a  single  genus.  Much  is  explained  simply  in  the 
statement  that  golden-rods  belong  to  the  vast  order  of  Compositae, 
flowers  in  reality  made  up  sometimes  of  hundreds  of  minute  florets 
united  into  a  far-advanced  socialistic  community  having  for  its 
motto,  "In  union  there  is  strength."  (See  Daisy,  p.  270. )  In  the 

351 


Yellow  and  Orange 

first  place,  such  an  association  of  florets  makes  a  far  more  conspic- 
uous advertisement  than  a  single  flower,  one  that  can  be  seen 
by  insects  at  a  great  distance  ;  for  most  of  the  composite  plants 
live  in  large  colonies,  each  plant,  as  well  as  each  floret,  helping  the 
others  in  attracting  their  benefactors'  attention.  The  facility  with 
which  insects  are  enabled  to  collect  both  pollen  and  nectar  makes 
the  golden-rods  exceedingly  popular  restaurants.  Finally,  the 
visits  of  insects  are  more  likely  to  prove  effectual,  because  any  one 
that  alights  must  touch  several  or  many  florets,  and  cross-pollin- 
ate them  simply  by  crawling  over  a  head.  The  disk  florets  mostly 
contain  both  stamens  and  pistil,  while  the  ray  florets  in  one  series 
are  all  male.  Immense  numbers  of  wasps,  hornets,  bees,  flies, 
beetles,  and  "bugs"  feast  without  effort  here  :  indeed,  the  bud- 
ding entomologist  might  form  a  large  collection  of  Hymenoptera, 
Diptera,  Coleoptera,  and  Hemiptera  from  among  the  visitors  to  a 
single  field  of  golden-rod  alone.  Usually  to  be  discovered  among 
the  throng  are  the  velvety  black  Lytta  or  Cantharis,  that  impostor 
wasp-beetle,  the  black  and  yellow  wavy-banded,  red-legged 
locust-tree  borer,  and  the  painted  Clytus,  banded  with  yellow  and 
sable,  squeaking  contentedly  as  he  gnaws  the  florets  that  feed  him. 
Where  the  slender,  brown,  plume-tipped  wands  etch  their 
charming  outline  above  the  snow-covered  fields,  how  the  spar- 
rows, finches,  buntings,  and  juncos  love  to  congregate,  of  course 
helping  to  scatter  the  seeds  to  the  wind  while  satisfying  their 
hunger  on  the  swaying,  down-curved  stalks.  Now  that  the 
leaves  are  gone,  some  of  the  golden-rod  stems  are  seen  to  bulge 
as  if  a  tiny  ball  were  concealed  under  the  bark.  In  spring  a  little 
winged  tenant,  a  fly,  will  emerge  from  the  gall  that  has  been  his 
cradle  all  winter. 


Elecampane;    Horseheal;   Yellow   Starwort 

(Inula  Heleniuni)  Thistle  family 

Flower-heads — Large,  yellow,  solitary  or  a  few,  2  to  4  in.  across, 
on  long,  stout  peduncles;  the  scaly  green  involucre  nearly  i  in. 
high,  holding  disk  florets  surrounded  by  a  fringe  of  long,  very 
narrow,  3-toothed  ray  florets.  Stem:  Usually  unbranched, 
2  to  6  ft.  high,  hairy  above.  Leaves:  Alternate,  large,  broadly 
oblong,  pointed,  saw-edged,  rough  above,  woolly  beneath  ; 
some  with  heart-shaped,  clasping  bases. 

Preferred  Habitat — Roadsides,  fields,  fence  rows,  damp  pastures. 

Flowering  Season— July — September. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  the  Carolinas,  and  westward  to  Min- 
nesota and  Missouri. 

"September  may  be  described  as  the  month  of  tall  weeds," 
says  John  Burroughs.    "  Where  they  have  been  suffered  to  stand, 

352 


Yellow  and  Orange 

along  fences,  by  roadsides,  and  in  forgotten  corners, — redroot, 
ragweed,  vervain,  golden-rod,  burdock,  elecampane,  thistles, 
teasels,  nettles,  asters,  etc., — how  they  lift  themselves  upas  if  not 
afraid  to  be  seen  now  !  They  are  all  outlaws  ;  every  man's  hand 
is  against  them  ;  yet  how  surely  they  hold  their  own  !  They  love 
the  roaside,  because  here  they  are  comparatively  safe  ;  and  ragged 
and  dusty,  like  the  common  tramps  that  they  are,  they  form  one 
of  the  characteristic  features  of  early  fall." 

Yet  the  elecampane  has  not  always  led  a  vagabond  existence. 
Once  it  had  its  passage  paid  across  the  Atlantic,  because  special 
virtue  was  attributed  to  its  thick,  mucilaginous  roots  as  a  horse- 
medicine.  For  over  two  thousand  years  it  has  been  employed  by 
home  doctors  in  Europe  and  Asia  ;  and  at  first  Old  World  immi- 
grants thought  they  could  not  live  here  without  the  plant  on  their 
farms.  Once  given  a  chance  to  naturalize  itself,  no  composite  is 
slow  in  seizing  it.  The  vigorous  elecampane,  rearing  its  fringy, 
yellow  disks  above  lichen-covered  stone  walls  in  New  England,  the 
Virginia  rail  fence,  and  the  rank  weedy  growth  along  barbed-wire 
barriers  farther  west,  now  bids  fair  to  cross  the  continent. 

Cup-plant;   Indian-cup;   Ragged  Cup;   Rosin- 
plant 

(Silphium  perfoliatmn)  Thistle  family 

Flower-heads — Yellow,  nearly  flat,  2  to  3  in.  across  ;  20  to  30  nar- 
row, pistillate  ray  florets,  about  i  in.  long,  overlapping  in  2 
or  3  series  around  the  perfect  but  sterile  disk  florets.  Stem  : 
4  to  8  ft.  tall,  square,  smooth,  usually  branched  above. 
Leaves :  Opposite,  ovate,  upper  ones  united  by  their  bases  to 
form  a  cup  ;  lower  ones  large,  coarsely  toothed,  and  narrowed 
into  margined  petioles  ;  all  filled  with  resinous  juice. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Moist  soil,  low  ground  near  streams. 

Flowering  Season — July — September. 

Distribution — Ontario,  New  York,  and  Georgia,  westward  to 
Minnesota,  Nebraska,  and  Louisiana. 

It  behooves  a  species  related  to  the  wonderful  compass-plant 
(see  p.  346)  to  do  something  unusual  with  its  leaves  ;  hence  this 
one  makes  cups  to  catch  rain  by  uniting  its  upper  pairs.  Darwin's 
experiments  with  infinitesimal  doses  of  ammonia  in  stimulating  leaf 
activity  may  throw  some  light  on  this  singular  arrangement.  So 
many  plants  provide  traps  to  catch  rain,  although  fourteen  gallons 
of  it  contain  only  one  grain  of  ammonia,  that  we  must  believe  there 
is  a  wise  physiological  reason  for  calling  upon  the  leaves  to  assist 
the  roots  in  absorbing  it.  A  native  of  Western  prairies,  the  cup- 
plant  has  now  become  naturalized  so  far  east  as  the  neighbor- 
hood of  New  York  City. 

»3  353 


Yellow  and  Orange 

False   Sunflower;   Ox-eye 

(Heliopsis  helianthoides)  Thistle  family 
(//.  laevis  of  Gray) 

Flower-heads — Entirely  golden  yellow,  daisy-like,  \y?  to  2^/2  in. 
across,  the  perfect  disk  florets  inserted  on  a  convex,  chaffy 
receptacle,  and  surrounded  by  pistillate,  fertile,  3-toothed 
ray  florets  ;  usually  numerous  solitary  heads  borne  on  long 
peduncles  from  axils  of  upper  leaves.  Stem;  3  to  5  ft.  tall, 
branching  above,  smooth.  Leaves:  Opposite,  ovate,  and 
tapering  to  a  sharp  point,  sharply  and  evenly  toothed. 

Preferred  Habitat — Open  places;  rich,  low  ground;  beside  streams. 

Flowering  Season — July — September. 

Distribution — Southern  Canada  to  Florida,  westward  to  Illinois  and 
Kentucky. 

Along  the  streams  the  numerous  flower-heads  of  this  gor- 
geous sunbearer  shine  out  from  afar,  brightening  a  long,  meander- 
ing course  across  the  low-lying  meadows.  Like  heralds  of  good 
things  to  come,  they  march  a  little  in  advance  of  the  brilliant  pa- 
geant of  wild  flowers  that  sweeps  across  the  country  from  mid- 
summer till  killing  frost.  Most  people  mistake  them  for  true, 
yellow-disked  sunflowers,  whose  ray  florets  are  neutral,  not  fer- 
tile as  these  long  persistent  ones  are.  But  no  one  should  confuse 
them  with  the  dark  cone-centred  ox-eye  daisy.  Small  bees, 
wasps,  hornets,  flies,  little  butterflies,  beetles,  and  lower  insects 
come  to  feast  on  the  nectar  and  pollen  within  the  minute  tubu- 
lar disk  florets.  The  bright  fulvous  and  black  pearl  crescent 
butterfly,  with  a  trifle  over  an  inch  wing  expanse ;  the  common  hair 
streak  ;  the  even  commoner  little  white  butterfly  ;  and  the  tiny 
black  sooty  wing,  among  others,  appear  to  find  generous  enter- 
tainment here.  The  last  named  little  fellow,  when  in  the  cater- 
pillar stage,  formed  a  cradle  for  himself  by  folding  together  a  leaf 
of  the  ubiquitous  green-flowered  pigweed  or  lamb's  quarters 
(Chenopodiuin  album]  and  stitching  the  edges  together  with  a  few 
silken  threads.  Here  it  slept  by  day,  emerging  only  at  night  to 
feed.  Usually  one  has  not  long  to  wait  before  discovering  the 
white-dotted  sooty  wing  among  the  midsummer  composites. 

Black-eyed  Susan;  Yellow  or  Ox-eye  Daisy; 
Nigger-head;  Golden  Jerusalem;  Purple 
Cone-flower 

(Rtidbeckia  hirta)  Thistle  family 

Flower-heads — From  10  to  20  orange-yellow  neutral  rays  around 
a  conical,  dark  purplish-brown  disk  of  florets  containing  both 

354 


Yellow  and  Orange 

stamens  and  pistil.  Stem :  I  to  3  ft.  tall,  hairy,  rough,  usu- 
ally unbranched,  often  tufted.  Leaves:  Oblong  to  lance- 
shaped,  thick,  sparingly  notched,  rough. 

Preferred  Habitat— Open  sunny  places  ;  dry  fields. 

Flowering  Season — May — September. 

Distribution — Ontario  and  the  Northwest  Territory  south  to 
Colorado  and  the  Gulf  States. 

So  very  many  weeds  having  come  to  our  Eastern  shores  from 
Europe,  and  marched  farther  and  farther  west  year  by  year,  it  is 
but  fair  that  black-eyed  Susan,  a  native  of  Western  clover  fields, 
should  travel  toward  the  Atlantic  in  bundles  of  hay  whenever  she 
gets  the  chance,  to  repay  Eastern  farmers  in  their  own  coin.  Do 
these  gorgeous  heads  know  that  all  our  showy  rudbeckias — some 
with  orange  red  at  the  base  of  their  ray  florets— have  become  prime 
favorites  of  late  years  in  European  gardens,  so  offering  them  still 
another  chance  to  overrun  the  Old  World,  to  which  so  much 
American  hay  is  shipped  ?  Thrifty  farmers  may  decry  the  im- 
portation into  their  mowing  lots,  but  there  is  a  glory  to  the  cone- 
flower  beside  which  the  glitter  of  a  gold  coin  fades  into  paltry 
nothingness.  Having  been  instructed  in  the  decorative  usefulness 
of  all  this  genus  by  European  landscape  gardeners,  we  Americans 
now  importune  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  seeds  through 
members  of  Congress,  even  Representatives  of  States  that  have 
passed  stringent  laws  against  the  dissemination  of  "  weeds."  In- 
asmuch as  each  black-eyed  Susan  puts  into  daily  operation  the 
business  methods  of  the  white  daisy  (see  p.  270),  methods  which 
have  become  a  sort  of  creed  for  the  entire  composite  horde  to  live 
by,  it  is  plain  that  she  may  defy  both  farmers  and  legislators. 
Bees,  wasps,  flies,  butterflies,  and  beetles  could  not  be  kept  away 
from  an  entertainer  so  generous  ;  for  while  the  nectar  in  the  deep, 
tubular  brown  florets  may  be  drained  only  by  long,  slender 
tongues,  pollen  is  accessible  to  all.  Anyone  who  has  had  a  jar  of 
these  yellow  daisies  standing  on  a  polished  table  indoors,  and 
tried  to  keep  its  surface  free  from  a  ring  of  golden  dust  around  the 
flowers,  knows  how  abundant  their  pollen  is.  There  are  those 
who  vainly  imagine  that  the  slaughter  of  dozens  of  English  spar- 
rows occasionally  is  going  to  save  this  land  of  liberty  from  being 
overrun  with  millions  of  the  hardy  little  gamins  that  have  proved 
themselves  so  fit  in  the  struggle  for  survival.  As  vainly  may 
farmers  try  to  exterminate  a  composite  that  has  once  taken  pos- 
session of  their  fields. 

Blazing  hot  sunny  fields,  in  which  black-eyed  Susan  feels 
most  comfortable,  suit  the  Tall  or  Green-headed  Cone-flower  or 
Thimble-weed  (R.  laciniata}  not  at  all.  Its  preference  is  for 
moist  thickets  such  as  border  swamps  and  meadow  runnels. 
Consequently  it  has  no  need  of  the  bristly-hairy  coat  that  screens 

355 


Yellow  and  Orange 

the  yellow  daisy  from  too  fierce  sunlight,  and  great  need  of  more 
branches  and  leaves.  (See  prickly  pear,  p.  319.)  This  is  a  smooth, 
much  branched  plant,  towering  sometimes  twelve  feet  high, 
though  commonly  not  even  half  that  height  ;  its  great  lower 
leaves,  on  long  petioles,  have  from  three  to  seven  divisions  vari- 
ously lobed  and  toothed ;  while  the  stem  leaves  are  irregularly  three 
to  five  parted  or  divided.  The  numerous  showy  heads,  which 
measure  from  two  and  a  half  to  four  inches  across,  have  from  six 
to  ten  bright  yellow  rays  drooping  a  trifle  around  a  dull  greenish- 
yellow  conical  disk  that  gradually  lengthens  to  twice  its  breadth, 
if  not  more,  as  the  seeds  mature.  July — September.  Quebec  to 
Montana,  and  southward  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 


Tall  or  Giant  Sunflower 

(Helianthus  giganteus)  Thistle  family 

Flower-heads — Several,  on  long,  rough-hairy  peduncles;  i^  to  2% 
in.  broad;  loto  20  pale  yellow  neutral  rays  around  a  yellow- 
ish disk  whose  florets  are  perfect,  fertile.  Stem:  3  to  12  ft. 
tall,  bristly-hairy,  usually  branching  above,  often  reddish  ; 
from  a  perennial,  fleshy  root.  Leaves :  Rough,  firm,  lance- 
shaped,  saw-toothed,  sessile. 

Preferred  Habitat — Low  ground,  wet  meadows,  swamps. 

Flowering  Season — August — October. 

Distribution — Maine  to  Nebraska  and  the  Northwest  Territory, 
south  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

To  how  many  sun-shaped  golden  disks  with  outflashing  rays 
might  not  the  generic  name  of  this  clan  (Helios  =  the  sun,  anthos 
=  a  flower)  be  as  fittingly  applied :  from  midsummer  till  frost 
the  earth  seems  given  up  to  floral  counterparts  of  his  worship- 
ful majesty.  If,  as  we  are  told,  one-ninth  of  all  flowering  plants 
in  the  world  belong  to  the  composite  order,  of  which  over  six- 
teen hundred  species  are  found  in  North  America  north  of  Mexico, 
surely  over  half  this  number  are  made  up  after  the  daisy  pattern 
(p.  271),  the  most  successful  arrangement  known,  and  the  major- 
ity of  these  are  wholly  or  partly  yellow.  Most  conspicuous 
of  the  horde  are  the  sunflowers,  albeit  they  never  reach  in  the 
wild  state  the  gigantic  dimensions  and  weight  that  cultivated,  dark 
brown  centred  varieties  produced  from  the  common  sunflower 
(H.  annus)  have  attained.  For  many  years  the  origin  of  the 
latter  flower,  which  suddenly  shone  forth  in  European  gardens 
with  unwonted  splendor,  was  in  doubt.  Only  lately  it  was 
learned  that  when  Champlain  and  Segur  visited  the  Indians  on 
Lake  Huron's  eastern  shores  about  three  centuries  ago,  they  saw 
them  cultivating  this  plant,  which  must  have  been  brought  by 

356 


Yellow  and  Orange 

them  from  its  native  prairies  beyond  the  Mississippi — a  plant  whose 
stalks  furnished  them  with  a  textile  fibre,  its  leaves  fodder,  its  flow- 
ers a  yellow  dye,  and  its  seeds,  most  valuable  of  all,  food  and  hair- 
oil  !  Early  settlers  in  Canada  were  not  slow  in  sending  home  to 
Europe  so  decorative  and  useful  an  acquisition.  Swine,  poultry, 
and  parrots  were  fed  on  its  rich  seeds.  Its  flowers,  even  under 
Indian  cultivation  had  already  reached  abnormal  size.  Of  the  sixty 
varied  and  interesting  species  of  wild  sunflowers  known  to  scien- 
tists, all  are  North  American. 
Moore's  pretty  statement, 

"  As  the  sunflower  turns  on  her  god  when  he  sets 
The  same  look  which  she  turn'd  when  he  rose," 

lacks  only  truth  to  make  it  fact.  The  flower  does  not  travel  daily 
on  its  stalk  from  east  to  west.  Often  the  top  of  the  stem  turns 
sharply  toward  the  light  to  give  the  leaves  better  exposure,  but 
the  presence  or  absence  of  a  terminal  flower  affects  its  action  not 
at  all. 

Formerly  the  garden  species  was  thought  to  be  a  native,  not 
of  our  prairies,  but  of  Mexico  and  Peru,  because  the  Spanish  con- 
querors found  it  employed  there  as  a  mystic  and  sacred  symbol, 
much  as  the  Egyptians  employed  the  lotus  in  their  sculpture.  In 
the  temples  the  handmaidens  wore  upon  their  breasts  plates  of 
gold  beaten  into  the  likeness  of  the  sunflower.  But  none  of  the 
eighteen  species  of  helianthus  found  south  of  our  borders  produces 
under  cultivation  the  great  plants  that  stand  like  a  golden-hel- 
meted  phalanx  in  every  old-fashioned  garden  at  the  North.  Many 
birds,  especially  those  of  the  sparrow  and  finch  tribe,  come  to  feast 
on  the  oily  seeds;  and  where  is  there  a  more  charming  sight  than 
when  a  family  of  goldfinches  settle  upon  the  huge,  top-heavy 
heads,  unconsciously  forming  a  study  in  sepia  and  gold  ? 

On  prairies  west  of  Pennsylvania  to  South  Dakota,  Missouri, 
and  Texas,  the  Saw-tooth  Sunflower  (H.  grosse-serratus}  is  com- 
mon. Deep  yellow  instead  of  pale  rays  around  a  yellowish  disk 
otherwise  resemble  the  tall  sunflower's  heads  in  appearance  as  in 
season  of  bloom.  The  smooth  stalk,  with  a  bluish-hoary  bloom 
on  its  surface,  may  have  hairs  on  the  branches  only.  Long,  lance- 
shaped,  pointed  leaves,  the  edges  of  lower  ones  especially  sharply 
saw-toothed,  their  upper  surface  rough,  and  underneath  soft- 
hairy,  are  on  slender,  short  petioles,  the  lower  ones  opposite,  the 
upper  ones  alternate.  Honey-bees  find  abundant  refreshment  in 
the  tubular  disk  florets  in  which  many  of  their  tribe  may  be 
caught  sucking  ;  brilliant  little  Syrphidae,  the  Bombilius  cheat,  and 
other  flies  come  after  pollen  ;  butterflies  feast  here  on  nectar,  top  ; 
and  greedy  beetles,  out  for  pollen,  often  gnaw  the  disks  with 
their  pinchers. 

357 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Very  common  in  dry  woodlands  and  in  roadside  thickets 
from  Ontario  to  Florida,  and  westward  to  Nebraska,  is  the  Rough 
or  Woodland  Sunflower  (H.  di-varicatus).  Its  stem,  which  is 
smooth  nearly  to  the  summit,  does  not  often  exceed  three  feet  in 
height,  though  it  may  be  less,  or  twice  as  high.  Usually  all  its 
wide-spread  leaves  are  opposite,  sessile,  lance-shaped  to  ovate, 
slightly  toothed,  and  rough  on  their  upper  surface.  Few  or  soli- 
tary flower-heads,  about  two  inches  across,  have  from  eight  to 
fifteen  rays  round  a  yellow  disk. 

The  Thin-leaved  or  Ten-petalled  Sunflower  (H.  decapetalns), 
on  the  contrary,  chooses  to  dwell  in  moist  woods  and  thickets, 
beside  streams,  no  farther  west  than  Michigan  and  Kentucky. 
Its  smooth,  branching  stem  may  be  anywhere  from  one  foot  to 
five  feet  tall  ;  its  thin,  membranous,  sharply  saw-edged  leaves, 
from  ovate  to  lance-shaped,  with  a  rounded  base,  roughest  above 
and  soft  underneath,  are  commonly  alternate  toward  the  sum- 
mit, while  the  lower  ones,  on  slender  petioles,  are  opposite. 
There  are  by  no  means  always  ten  yellow  rays  around  the  yellow 
disks  produced  in  August  and  September  ;  there  may  be  any 
number  from  eight  to  fifteen,  although  this  free-flowering  species, 
like  the  Pale-leaved  Wood  Sunflower  (H.  strumosus),  an  earlier 
bloomer,  often  arranges  its  "petals"  in  tens. 

Jerusalem  Artichoke,  Earth  Apple,  Canada  Potato,  Girasole 
(H.  tuberosus),  often  called  Wild  Sunflower,  too,  has  an  interest- 
ing history  similar  to  the  dark-centred,  common  garden  sunflow- 
er's. In  a  musty  old  tome  printed  in  1649,  and  entitled  "A  Per- 
fect Description  of  Virginia,"  we  read  that  the  English  planters 
had  "  rootes  of  several  kindes,  Potatoes,  Sparagus,  Garrets  and 
Hartichokes  " — not  the  first  mention  of  the  artichoke  by  Anglo- 
Americans.  Long  before  their  day  the  Indians,  who  taught  them 
its  uses,  had  cultivated  it  ;  and  wherever  we  see  the  bright  yellow 
flowers  gleaming  like  miniature  suns  above  roadside  thickets  and 
fence  rows  in  the  East,  we  may  safely  infer  the  spot  was  once  an 
aboriginal  or  colonial  farm.  White  men  planted  it  extensively 
for  its  edible  tubers,  which  taste  not  unlike  celery  root  or  salsify. 
As  early  as  1617  the  artichoke  was  introduced  into  Europe,  and 
only  twelve  years  later  Parkinson  records  that  the  roots  had  be- 
come very  plentiful  and  cheap  in  London.  The  Italians  also 
cultivated  it  under  the  name  Girasole  Articocco  (sunflower  arti- 
choke), but  it  did  not  take  long  for  the  girasole  to  become  cor- 
rupted into  Jerusalem,  hence  the  name  Jerusalem  Artichoke  com- 
mon to  this  day.  When  the  greater  value  of  the  potato  came 
to  be  generally  recognized,  the  use  of  artichoke  roots  gradually 
diminished.  Quite  different  from  this  sunflower  is  the  true  arti- 
choke (Cynara  Scolymus),  a  native  of  Southern  Europe,  whose 
large,  unopened  flower-heads  offer  a  tiny  edible  morsel  at  the 
base  of  each  petal-like  part. 

358 


Yellow  and  Orange 

The  Jerusalem  artichoke  sends  up  from  its  thickened,  fleshy, 
tuber-bearing  rootstock,  hairy,  branching  stems  six  to  twelve  feet 
high.  Especially  are  the  flower-stalks  rough,  partly  to  discourage 
pilfering  crawlers.  The  firm,  oblong  leaves,  taper  pointed  at  the 
apex  and  saw-edged,  are  rough  above,  the  lower  leaves  oppo- 
site each  other  on  petioles,  the  upper  alternate.  The  brilliant 
flower-heads,  which  are  produced  freely  in  September  and  Octo- 
ber, defying  frost,  are  about  two  or  three  inches  across,  and  con- 
sist of  from  twelve  to  twenty  lively  yellow  rays  around  a  dull 
yellow  disk.  The  towering  prolific  plant  prefers  moist  but  not 
wet  soil  from  Georgia  and  Arkansas  northward  to  New  Bruns- 
wick and  the  Northwest  Territory.  Omnivorous  small  boys  are 
not  always  particular  about  boiling,  not  to  say  washing,  the  roots 
before  eating  them. 


Lance-leaved  Tickseed  ;   Golden  Coreopsis 

(Coreopsis  lanceolata)  Thistle  family 

Flowers-heads — Showy,  bright  golden  yellow,  the  6  to  10  wedge- 
shaped,  coarsely  toothed  ray  florets  around  yellowish  disk 
florets  soon  turning  brown ;  each  head  on  a  very  long,  smooth, 
slender  footstalk.  Stems  :  i  to  2  ft.  high,  tufted.  Leaves :  A 
few  seated  on  stem,  lance-shaped  to  narrowly  oblong;  or 
lower  ones  crowded,  spatulate,  on  slender  petioles. 

Preferred  Habitat — Open,  sunny  places,  moist  or  dry. 

Flowering  Season — May — September. 

Distribution — Western  Ontario  to  Missouri  and  the  Gulf  States; 
escaped  from  gardens  in  the  East. 

Glorious  masses  of  this  prolific  bloomer  persistently  outshine 
all  rivals  in  the  garden  beds  throughout  the  summer.  Cut  as 
many  slender-stalked  flowers  and  buds  as  you  will  for  vases  in- 
doors, cut  them  by  armfuls,  and  two  more  soon  appear  for  every 
one  taken.  From  seeds  scattered  by  the  wind  over  a  dry,  sandy 
field  adjoining  a  Long  Island  garden  one  autumn,  myriads  of  these 
flowers  swarmed  like  yellow  butterflies  the  next  season.  Very 
slight  encouragement  induces  this  coreopsis  to  run  wild  in  the  East. 
Grandiflora,  with  pinnately  parted  narrow  leaves  and  similar 
flowers,  a  Southwestern  species,  is  frequently  a  runaway.  Bees 
and  flies,  attracted  by  the  showy  neutral  rays  which  are  borne 
solely  for  advertising  purposes,  unwittingly  cross-fertilize  the  heads 
as  they  crawl  over  the  tiny,  tubular,  perfect  florets  massed  to- 
gether in  the  central  disk  ;  for  some  of  these  florets  having  the 
pollen  pushed  upward  by  hair  brushes  and  exposed  for  the  vis- 
itor's benefit,  while  others  have  their  sticky  style  branches  spread 

359 


Yellow  and  Orange 

to  receive  any  vitalizing  dust  brought  to  them,  it  follows  that 
quantities  of  vigorous  seed  must  be  set. 

"There  is  a  natural  rotation  of  crops,  as  yet  little  under- 
stood," says  Miss  Going.  "  Where  a  pine  forest  has  been  cleared 
away,  oaks  come  up;  and  a  botanist  can  tell  beforehand  just 
what  flowers  will  appear  in  the  clearings  of  pine  woods.  In 
northern  Ohio,  when  a  piece  of  forest-land  is  cleared,  a  particular 
sort  of  grass  appears.  When  that  is  ploughed  under,  a  growth 
of  the  golden  coreopsis  comes  up,  and  the  pretty  yellow  blossoms 
are  followed  in  their  turn  by  the  plebeian  rag-weed  which  takes 
possession  of  the  entire  field." 

The  charmingly  delicate,  wiry  Garden  Tickseed,  known  in 
seedsmen's  catalogues  as  Calliopsis  (Coreopsis  tinctorid],  which 
has  also  locally  escaped  to  roadsides  and  waste  places  eastward, 
is  at  home  in  moist,  rich  soil  from  Louisiana,  Arizona,  and  Ne- 
braska northward  into  Minnesota  and  the  British  Possessions. 
From  May  to  September  its  fine,  slender,  low-growing  stems  are 
crowned  with  small  yellow  composite  flowers  whose  rays  are 
velvety  maroon  or  brown  at  the  base.  (Coreopsis  =  like  a  bug, 
from  the  shape  of  the  seeds.) 


Larger   or   Smooth    Bur-marigold ;    Brook 
Sunflower 

(Bidens  laevis]  Thistle  family 
(B.  chrysanthemoides  of  Gray) 

Flower-heads — Showy  golden  yellow,  i  to  2^/2  in.  across,  numer- 
ous, on  short  peduncles  ;  8  to  10  neutral  rays  around  a  dingy 
yellowish  or  brown  disk  of  tubular,  perfect,  fertile  florets. 
Stem :  i  to  2  ft.  high.  Leaves :  Opposite,  sessile,  lance-shaped, 
regularly  saw-toothed. 

Preferred  Habitat — Wet  ground,  swamps,  ditches,  meadows. 

Flowering  Season — August — November. 

Distribution — Quebec  and  Minnesota,  southward  to  the  Gulf  States 
and  Lower  California. 

Next  of  kin  to  the  golden  coreopsis,  it  behooves  some  of  the 
bur-marigolds  to  redeem  their  clan's  reputation  for  ugliness  ; 
and  certainly  the  brook  sunflower  is  a  not  unworthy  relative. 
How  gay  the  ditches  and  low  meadows  are  with  its  bright,  gen- 
erous bloom  in  late  summer,  and  until  even  the  golden-rod 
wands  turn  brown !  Yet  all  this  show  is  expended  merely  for  ad- 
vertising purposes.  The  golden  ray  florets,  sacrificing  their  fer- 
tility to  the  general  welfare  of  the  cooperative  community,  which 
each  flower-head  is  in  reality,  have  grown  conspicuous  to  attract 

360 


Yellow  and  Orange 

bees  and  wasps,  butterflies,  flies,  and  some  beetles  to  the  dingy 
mass  of  tubular  florets  in  the  centre,  in  which  nectar  is  concealed, 
while  pollen  is  exposed  for  the  visitors  to  transfer  as  they  crawl. 
The  rays  simply  make  a  show  ;  within  the  minute,  insignificant 
looking  tubes  is  transacted  the  important  business  of  life. 

Later  in  the  season,  when  the  bur-marigolds  are  transformed 
into  armories  bristling  with  rusty,  two-pronged,  and  finely-barbed 
pitchforks  (Bidens  =  two  teeth),  our  real  quarrel  with  the  tribe 
begins.  The  innocent  passerby — man,  woman,  or  child,  woolly 
sheep,  cattle  with  switching  tails,  hairy  dogs  or  foxes,  indeed, 
any  creature  within  reach  of  the  vicious  grappling-hooks — must 
transport  them  on  his  clothing  ;  for  it  is  thus  that  these  tramps 
have  planned  to  get  away  from  the  parent  plant  in  the  hope  of 
being  picked  off,  and  the  seeds  dropped  in  fresh  colonizing 
ground  ;  travelling  in  the  disreputable  company  of  their  kinsmen 
the  beggar-ticks  and  Spanish  needles,  the  burdock  burs,  cleavers, 
agrimony,  and  tick-trefoils. 

Beggar-ticks,  Stick-tight,  Rayless  Marigold,  Beggar-lice, 
Pitchforks,  or  Stick-seed  (B.  frondosa)  sufficiently  explains  its 
justly  defamed  character  in  its  popular  names.  Numerous  dull, 
dark,  tawny  orange  flower-heads  without  rays,  or  with  insignifi- 
ant  ones  scarcely  to  be  detected,  and  surrounded  by  taller  leaf- 
like  bracts,  add  little  to  the  beauty  of  the  moist  fields  and 
roadsides  where  they  rear  themselves  on  long  peduncles  from 
July  to  October.  The  smooth,  erect,  branched,  and  often  red- 
dish, stem  may  be  anywhere  from  two  to  nine  feet  tall.  Usually 
the  upper  leaves  are  not  divided,  but  the  lower  ones  are  pinnately 
compounded  of  three  to  five  divisions,  the  segments  lance-shaped 
or  broader,  and  sharply  toothed.  As  in  all  the  bur-marigolds, 
we  find  each  floret's  calyx  converted  into  a  barbed  implement — 
javelin,  pitchfork,  or  halberd — for  grappling  the  clothing  of  the 
first  innocent  victim  unwittingly  acting  as  a  colonizing  agent. 


Sneezeweed ;  Swamp  Sunflower 

(Helenium  autumnale)  Thistle  family 

Flower-heads — Bright  yellow,  i  to  2  in.  across,  numerous,  borne  on 
long  peduncles  in  corymb-like  clusters  ;  the  rays  3  to  5  cleft, 
and  drooping  around  the  yellow  or  yellowish-brown  disk. 
Stem:  2  to  o  ft.  tall,  branched  above.  Leaves:  Alternate, 
firm,  lance-shaped  to  oblong,  toothed,  seated  on  stem  or  the 
bases  slightly  decurrent  ;  bitter. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Swamps,  wet  ground,  banks  of  streams. 

Flowering  Season — August — October. 

361 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Distribution — Quebec  to  the  Northwest  Territory  ;  southward  to 
Florida  and  Arizona. 

September,  which  also  brings  out  lively  masses  of  the  swamp 
sunflower  in  the  low-lying  meadows,  was  appropriately  called 
our  golden  month  by  an  English  traveller  who  saw  for  the  first 
time  the  wonderful  yellows  in  our  autumn  foliage,  the  surging 
seas  of  golden-rod,  the  tall,  showy  sunflowers,  ox-eyes,  rudbeck- 
ias,  marigolds,  and  all  the  other  glorious  composites  in  Nature's 
garden,  as  in  men's,  which  copy  the  sun's  resplendent  disk  and 
rays  to  brighten  with  one  final  dazzling  outburst  the  sombre  face 
of  the  dying  year. 

To  the  swamp  sunflowers  honey-bees  hasten  for  both  nectar 
and  pollen,  velvety  bumblebees  suck  the  sweets,  leaf-cutter  and 
mason  bees,  wasps,  some  butterflies,  flies,  and  beetles  visit  them 
daily,  for  the  round  disks  mature  their  perfect  fertile  florets  in  suc- 
cession. Since  the  drooping  ray  flowers,  which  are  pistillate  only, 
are  fertile  too,  there  is  no  scarcity  of  seed  set,  much  to  the  farmer's 
dismay.  Most  cows  know  enough  to  respect  the  bitter  leaves' 
desire  to  be  let  alone  ;  but  many  a  pail  of  milk  has  been  spoiled 
by  a  mouthful  of  Helenium  among  the  herbage.  Whoever  cares 
to  learn  from  experience  why  this  was  called  the  sneezeweed, 
must  take  a  whiff  of  snuff  made  of  the  dried  and  powdered  leaves. 

The  Purple-head  Sneezeweed  (H.  nudiflorum),  its  yellow 
rays  sometimes  wanting,  occurs  in  the  South  and  West. 


Tansy ;    Bitter-buttons 

(Tanacetum  vulgar e)  Thistle  family 

Flower-heads — Small,  round,  of  tubular  florets  only,  packed  within 
a  depressed  involucre,  and  borne  in  flat-topped  corymbs. 
Stem:  \l/z  to  3  ft.  tall,  leafy.  Leaves  :  Deeply  and  pinnately 
cleft  into  narrow,  toothed  divisions;  strong  scented. 

Preferred  Habitat — Roadsides  ;  commonly  escaped  from  gardens. 

Flowering  Season — J  uly — September. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia,  westward  to  Minnesota,  south  to  Mis- 
souri and  North  Carolina.  Naturalized  from  Europe. 

"In  the  spring  time,  are  made  with  the  leaves  hereof  newly 
sprung  up,  and  with  eggs,  cakes  or  Tansies  which  be  pleasant  in 
taste  and  goode  for  the  Stomache,"  wrote  quaint  old  Gerarde. 
That  these  were  popular  dainties  in  the  seventeenth  century  we 
further  know  through  Pepys,  who  made  a  "  pretty  dinner"  for 
some  guests,  to  wit :  "  A  brace  of  stewed  carps,  six  roasted  chick- 
ens, and  a  jowl  of  salmon,  hot,  for  the  first  course;  a  tansy,  and 
two  neat's  tongues,  and  cheese,  the  second."  Cole's  "Art  of 

362 


Yellow  and  Orange 

Simpling, "  published  in  1 656,  assures  maidens  that  tansy  leaves  laid 
to  soak  in  buttermilk  for  nine  days  "  maketh  the  complexion  very 
fair."  Tansy  tea,  in  short,  cured  every  ill  that  flesh  is  heir  to,  ac- 
cording to  the  simple  faith  of  mediaeval  herbalists — a  faith  surviv- 
ing in  some  old  women  even  to  this  day.  The  name  is  said  to 
be  a  corruption  of  athanasia,  derived  from  two  Greek  words 
meaning  immortality.  When  some  monks  in  reading  Lucian 
came  across  the  passage  where  Jove,  speaking  of  Ganymede  to 
Mercury,  says,  "Take  him  hence,  and  when  he  has  tasted  im- 
mortality let  him  return  to  us,"  their  literal  minds  inferred  that  this 
plant  must  have  been  what  Ganymede  tasted,  hence  they  named  it 
athanasia  !  So  great  credence  having  been  given  to  its  medicinal 
powers  in  Europe,  it  is  not  strange  the  colonists  felt  they  could 
not  live  in  the  New  World  without  tansy.  Strong-scented  pun- 
gent tufts  topped  with  bright  yellow  buttons — runaways  from 
old  gardens — are  a  conspicuous  feature  along  many  a  roadside 
leading  to  colonial  homesteads. 

Golden  Ragwort;    Groundsel;    Squaw-weed 

{Senecio  aureus)  Thistle  family 

Flower-heads — Golden  yellow,  about  ^  in.  across,  borne  on  slender 
peduncles  in  a  loose,  leafless  cluster  ;  rays  8  to  12  around 
minute  disk  florets.  Stem :  Slender,  i  to  2)4  ft.  high,  solitary 
or  tufted,  from  a  strong-scented  root.  Leaves :  From  the  root, 
on  long  petioles,  rounded  or  heart-shaped,  scalloped-edged, 
often  purplish  ;  stem  leaves  variable,  lance-shaped  or  lyrate, 
deeply  cut,  sessile. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Swamps,  wet  ground,  meadows. 

Flowering  Season — May — July. 

Distribution — Gulf  States  northward  to  Missouri,  Ontario,  and 
Newfoundland. 

While  the  aster  clan  is  the  largest  we  have  in  North  America, 
this  genus  Senecio  is  really  the  most  numerous  branch  of  the  great 
composite  tribe,  numbering  as  it  does  nearly  a  thousand  species,  re- 
presented in  all  quarters  of  the  earth.  It  is  said  to  take  its  name 
from  senex  =  an  old  man,  in  reference  to  the  white  hairs  on  many 
species;  or,  more  likely,  to  the  silky  pappus  that  soon  makes  the 
fertile  disks  hoary  headed.  "I  see  the  downy  heads  of  the 
senecio  gone  to  seed,  thistle  like  but  small,"  wrote  Thoreau  in  his 
journal  under  date  of  July  2d,  when  only  the  pussy-toes  everlast- 
ing could  have  plumed  its  seeds  for  flight  over  the  dry  uplands  in 
a  similar  fashion.  Innumerable  as  the  yellow,  daisy-like  com- 
posites are,  most  of  them  appear  in  late  summer  or  autumn,  and 
so  the  novice  should  have  little  difficulty  in  naming  these  loosely 
clustered,  bright,  early  blooming,  small  heads. 

363 


RED  AND  INDEFINITES 


"  /  want  the  inner  meaning  and  the  understanding  of  the  wild  flowers 
in  the  meadow.  Why  are  they  ?  What  end  ?  What  purpose  ?  The 
plant  knows,  and  sees,  and  feels;  where  is  its  mind  when  the  petal  falls  ? 
Absorbed  in  the  universal  dynamic  force,  or  what?  They  make  no 
shadow  of  pretence,  these  beautiful  flowers,  of  being  beautiful  for  my 
sake,  of  bearing  honey  for  me ;  in  short,  there  does  not  seem  to  be  any 
kind  of  relationship  imderstood  between  us,  and  yet  .  .  .  language 
does  not  express  the  dumb  feelings  of  the  mind  any  more  than  the  flower 
can  speak.  I  want  to  know  the  soul  of  the  flowers  !  .  All  these 

lifc-laboitred  monographs,  these  classifications,  works  of  Linnaeus,  and 
our  own  classic  Darwin,  microscope,  physiology — and  the  flower  has  not 
given  us  its  message  yet." — RICHARD  JEFFRIES. 


365 


RED  AND  INDEFINITES 

Jack-in-the-PuIpit ;    Indian  Turnip 

(Arisaema  triphyllum)  Arum  family 

Flowers — Minute,  greenish  yellow,  clustered  on  the  lower  part  of 
a  smooth,  club-shaped,  slender  spadix  within  a  green  and 
maroon  or  whitish-striped  spathe  that  curves  in  a  broad- 
pointed  flap  above  it.  Leaves:  3-foliate,  usually  overtop- 
ping the  spathe,  their  slender  petioles  9  to  30  in.  high,  or 
as  tall  as  the  scape  that  rises  from  an  acrid  corm.  Fruit: 
Smooth,  shining  red  berries  clustered  on  the  thickened  club. 

Preferred  Habitat — Moist  woodland  and  thickets. 

Flowering  Season — April — June. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  westward  to  Minnesota,  and  southward 
to  the  Gulf  States. 

A  jolly  looking  preacher  is  Jack,  standing  erect  in  his  parti- 
colored pulpit  with  a  sounding-board  over  his  head;  but  he  is  a 
gay  deceiver,  a  wolf  in  sheep's  clothing,  literally  a  "  brother  to 
dragons,"  an  arrant  upstart,  an  ingrate,  a  murderer  of  innocent 
benefactors!  "  Female  botanizing  classes  pounce  upon  it  as  they 
would  upon  a  pious  young  clergyman,"  complains  Mr.  Ellwanger. 
A  poor  relation  of  the  stately  calla  lily  one  knows  Jack  to  be  at  a 
glance,  her  lovely  white  robe  corresponding  to  his  striped  pulpit,  her 
bright  yellow  spadix  to  his  sleek  reverence.  In  the  damp  wood- 
lands where  his  pulpit  is  erected  beneath  leafy  cathedral  arches, 
minute  flies  or  gnats,  recently  emerged  from  maggots  in  mush- 
rooms, toadstools,  or  decaying  logs,  form  the  main  part  of  his 
congregation. 

Now,  to  drop  the  clerical  simile,  let  us  peep  within  the  sheath- 
ing spathe,  or,  better  still,  strip  it  off  altogether.  Dr.  Torrey  states 
that  the  dark-striped  spathes  are  the  fertile  plants,  those  with 
green  and  whitish  lines,  sterile.  Within  are  smooth,  glossy 
columns,  and  near  the  base  of  each  we  shall  find  the  true  flowers, 
minute  affairs,  some  staminate  ;  others,  on  distinct  plants,  pistillate, 
the  berry  bearers  ;  or  rarely  both  male  and  female  florets  seated  on 
the  same  club,  as  if  Jack's  elaborate  plan  to  prevent  self-fertiliza- 
tion were  not  yet  complete.  Plants  may  be  detected  in  process 

367 


Red  and  Indefinites 

of  evolution  toward  their  ideals  just  as  nations  and  men  are. 
Doubtless,  when  Jack's  mechanism  is  perfected,  his  guilt  will  dis- 
appear. A  little  way  above  the  florets  the  club  enlarges  abruptly, 
forming  a  projecting  ledge  that  effectually  closes  the  avenue  of 
escape  for  many  a  guileless  victim.  A  fungus  gnat,  enticed  per- 
haps by  the  striped  house  of  refuge  from  cold  spring  winds,  and 
with  a  prospect  of  food  below,  enters  and  slides  down  the  inside 
walls  or  the  slippery  colored  column  :  in  either  case  descent  is 
very  easy  ;  it  is  the  return  that  is  made  so  difficult,  if  not  impos- 
sible, for  the  tiny  visitors.  Squeezing  past  the  projecting  ledge, 
the  gnat  finds  himself  in  a  roomy  apartment  whose  floor — the 
bottom  of  the  pulpit — is  dusted  over  with  fine  pollen ;  that  is,  if  he 
is  among  staminate  flowers  already  mature.  To  get  some  of 
that  pollen,  with  which  the  gnat  presently  covers  himself,  trans- 
ferred to  the  minute  pistillate  florets  waiting  for  it  in  a  distant 
chamber  is,  of  course,  Jack's  whole  aim  in  enticing  visitors  within 
his  polished  walls  ;  but  what  means  are  provided  for  their  escape  ? 
Their  efforts  to  crawl  upward  over  the  slippery  surface  only  land 
them  weak  and  discouraged  where  they  started.  The  projecting 
ledge  overhead  prevents  them  from  using  their  wings  ;  the  pas- 
sage between  the  ledge  and  the  spathe  is  far  too  narrow  to  permit 
flight.  Now,  if  a  gnat  be  persevering,  he  will  presently  discover 
a  gap  in  the  flap  where  the  spathe  folds  together  in  front,  and 
through  this  tiny  opening  he  makes  his  escape,  only  to  enter  an- 
other pulpit,  like  the  trusted,  but  too  trusting,  messenger  he  is, 
and  leave  some  of  the  vitalizing  pollen  on  the  fertile  florets  await- 
ing his  coming. 

But  suppose  the  fly,  small  as  he  is,  is  too  large  to  work  his 
way  out  through  the  flap,  or  too  bewildered  or  stupid  to  find 
the  opening,  or  too  exhausted  after  his  futile  efforts  to  get  out 
through  the  overhead  route  to  persevere,  or  too  weak  with  hun- 
ger in  case  of  long  detention  in  a  pistillate  trap  where  no  pollen 
is,  what  then  ?  Open  a  dozen  of  Jack's  pulpits,  and  in  several, 
at  least,  dead  victims  will  be  found — pathetic  little  corpses  sacri- 
ficed to  the  imperfection  of  his  executive  system.  Had  the  flies 
entered  mature  spathes,  whose  walls  had  spread  outward  and 
away  from  the  polished  column,  flight  through  the  overhead  route 
might  have  been  possible.  However  glad  we  may  be  to  make 
every  due  allowance  for  this  sacrifice  of  the  higher  life  to  the 
lower,  as  only  a  temporary  imperfection  of  mechanism  incidental 
to  the  plant's  higher  development,  Jack's  present  cruelty  shocks 
us  no  less.  Or,  it  may  be,  he  will  become  insectivorous  like  the 
pitcher  plant  in  time.  He  comes  from  a  rascally  family,  anyhow. 
(See  cuckoo  pint,  p.  156.) 

In  June  and  July  the  thick-set  club,  studded  over  with  bright 
berries,  becomes  conspicuous,  to  attract  hungry  woodland  rovers 
in  the  hope  that  the  seeds  will  be  dropped  far  from  the  parent 
plant.  The  Indians  used  to  boil  the  berries  for  food.  The  fari- 

368 


Red  and  Indefinites 

naceous  root  (cprm)  they  likewise  boiled  or  dried  to  extract  the 
stinging,  blistering  juice,  leaving  an  edible  little  "turnip,"  how- 
ever insipid  and  starchy. 

The  Green  Dragon,  or  Dragon-root  (A.  Dracontium),  to  which 
Jack  is  brother,  is  found  in  similar  situations  or  beside  streams  in 
wet,  shady  ground,  and  sends  up  a  narrow  greenish  or  whitish 
tapering  spathe,  one  or  two  inches  long,  enwrapping  a  slender, 
pointed  spadix,  that  projects  sometimes  seven  inches  beyond  its 
tip.  Within,  tiny  pistillate  florets  are  seated  around  the  base, 
while  on  the  staminate  plants  the  inflorescence  extends  higher.  A 
large,  solitary,  dark  green  leaf,  divided  into  from  five  to  seventeen 
oblong,  pointed  segments,  spreads  above.  Large  ovoid  heads  of 
reddish-orange  berries  are  the  plant's  most  conspicuous  feature. 


Skunk  or  Swamp  Cabbage 

(Spathyema  foetida)  Arum  family 
(Symplocarpus  foetidus  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Minute,  perfect,  foetid  ;  many  scattered  over  a  thick, 
rounded,  fleshy  spadix,  and  hidden  within  a  swollen,  shell- 
shaped,  purplish-brown  to  greenish-yellow,  usually  mottled, 
spathe,  close  to  the  ground,  that  appears  before  the  leaves. 
Spadix  much  enlarged  and  spongy  in  fruit,  the  bulb-like  ber- 
ries imbedded  in  its  surface.  Leaves:  In  large  crowns  like 
cabbages,  broadly  ovate,  often  i  ft.  across,  strongly  nerved, 
their  petioles  with  deep  grooves,  malodorous. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Swamps,  wet  ground. 

Flowering  Season — February — April. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Florida,  and  westward  to  Minnesota 
and  Iowa. 

This  despised  relative  of  the  stately  calla  lily  proclaims  spring 
in  the  very  teeth  of  winter,  being  the  first  bold  adventurer  above 
ground.  When  the  lovely  hepatica,  the  first  flower  worthy  the 
name  to  appear,  is  still  wrapped  in  her  fuzzy  furs,  the  skunk  cab- 
bage's dark  incurved  horn  shelters  within  its  hollow,  tiny,  malodor- 
ous florets.  Why  is  the  entire  plant  so  foetid  that  one  flees  the 
neighborhood,  pervaded  as  it  is  with  an  odor  that  combines  a  sus- 
picion of  skunk,  putrid  meat,  and  garlic  ?  After  investigating  the 
carrion-flower  (p.  282)  and  the  purple  trillium,  among  others,  we 
learned  that  certain  flies  delight  in  foul  odors  loathsome  to  higher 
organisms  ;  that  plants  dependent  on  these  pollen  carriers  woo 
them  from  long  distances  with  a  stench,  and  in  addition  sometimes 
try  to  charm  them  with  color  resembling  the  sort  of  meat  it  is 

24  369 


Red  and  Indefinites 

their  special  mission,  with  the  help  of  beetles  and  other  scavengers 
of  Nature,  to  remove  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  In  such  marshy 
ground  as  the  skunk  cabbage  lives  in,  many  small  flies  and  gnats 
live  in  embryo  under  the  fallen  leaves  during  the  winter.  But 
even  before  they  are  warmed  into  active  life,  the  hive-bees,  natives 
of  Europe,  and  with  habits  not  perfectly  adapted  as  yet  to  our  flora 
(nor  our  flora's  habits  to  theirs — see  milkweed,  p.  136),  are  out 
after  pollen.  Where  would  they  find  any  so  early,  if  not  within 
the  skunk  cabbage's  livid  horn  of  plenty  ?  Not  even  an  alder 
catkin  or  a  pussy  willow  has  expanded  yet.  In  spite  of  the  bee's 
refined  taste  in  the  matter  of  perfume  and  color,  she  has  no  choice, 
now,  but  to  enter  so  generous  an  entertainer.  At  the  top  of  the 
thick  rounded  spadix  within,  the  skunk  cabbage  florets  there 
first  mature  their  stigmas,  and  pollen  must  therefore  be  carried  to 
them  on  the  bodies  of  visitors.  Later  these  stigmas  wither,  and 
abundant  pollen  is  shed  from  the  now  ripe  anthers.  Meantime 
the  lower,  younger  florets  having  matured  their  stigmas,  some 
pollen  may  fall  directly  on  them  from  the  older  flowers  above.  A 
bee  crawling  back  and  forth  over  the  spadix  gets  thoroughly 
dusted,  and  flying  off  to  another  cluster  of  florets  cross-fertilizes 
them — that  is,  if  all  goes  well.  But  because  the  honey-bee  never 
entered  the  skunk  cabbage's  calculations,  useful  as  the  immigrant 
proved  to  be,  the  horn  that  was  manifestly  designed  for  smaller 
flies  often  proves  a  fatal  trap.  Occasionally  a  bee  finds  the  entrance 
she  has  managed  to  squeeze  through  too  narrow  and  slippery  for 
an  exit,  and  she  perishes  miserably. 

"A  couple  of  weeks  after  finding  the  first  bee,"  says  Mr. 
William  Trelease  in  the  "American  Naturalist,"  "the  spathes  will 
be  found  swarming  with  the  minute  black  flies  that  were  sought 
in  vain  earlier  in  the  season,  and  their  number  is  attested  not  only 
by  the  hundreds  of  them  which  can  be  seen,  but  also  by  the  many 
small  but  very  fat  spiders  whose  webs  bar  the  entrance  to  three- 
fourths  of  the  spathes.  During  the  present  spring  a  few  specimens 
of  a  small  scavenger  beetle  have  been  captured  within  the  spathes 
of  this  plant.  .  .  .  Finally,  other  and  more  attractive  flowers 
opening,  the  bees  appear  to  cease  visiting  those  of  this  species, 
and  countless  small  flies  take  their  place,  compensating  for  their 
small  size  by  their  great  numbers."  These,  of  course,  are  the 
benefactors  the  skunk  cabbage  catered  to  ages  before  the  honey- 
bee reached  our  shores. 

After  the  flowering  time  come  the  vivid  green  crowns  of 
leaves  that  at  least  please  the  eye.  Lizards  make  their  home 
beneath  them,  and  many  a  yellowthroat,  taking  advantage  of  the 
plant's  foul  odor,  gladly  puts  up  with  it  herself  and  builds  her  nest 
in  the  hollow  of  the  cabbage  as  a  protection  for  her  eggs  and 
young  from  four-footed  enemies.  Cattle  let  the  plant  alone  be- 
cause of  the  stinging,  acrid  juices  secreted  by  it,  although  such 
tender,  fresh,  bright  foliage  must  be  especially  tempting,  like  the 


RED  OR  WOOD  LILY. 
(Liliuin  FhiladelDhicum.) 


Red  and  Indefinites 

hellebore's,  after  a  dry  winter  diet.  Sometimes  tiny  insects  are 
found  drowned  in  the  wells  of  rain  water  that  accumulate  at  the 
base  of  the  grooved  leafstalks. 

Red,  Wood,  Flame,  or  Philadelphia  Lily 

(Lilium  Philadelphicum)  Lily  family 

Flowers — Erect,  tawny  or  red-tinted  outside;  vermilion,  or  some- 
times reddish  orange,  and  spotted  with  madder  brown  within  ; 
i  to  5,  on  separate  peduncles,  borne  at  the  summit.  Perianth  of 
6  distinct,  spreading,  spatulate  segments,  each  narrowed  into  a 
claw,  and  with  a  nectar  groove  at  its  base;  6  stamens  ;  i  style, 
the  club-shaped  stigma  3-lobed.  Stem :  i  to  3  ft.  tall,  from  a  bulb 
composed  of  narrow,  jointed,  fleshy  scales.  Leaves:  In  whorls 
of  3's  to  8's,  lance-shaped,  seated  at  intervals  on  the  stem. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Dry  woods,  sandy  soil,  borders,  and  thickets. 

Flowering  Season — J  u  n  e — J  uly . 

Distribution — Northern  border  of  United  States,  westward  to  On- 
tario, south  to  the  Carolinas  and  West  Virginia. 

Erect,  as  if  conscious  of  its  striking  beauty,  this  vivid  lily  lifts 
a  chalice  that  suggests  a  trap  for  catching  sunbeams  from  fiery 
old  Sol.  Defiant  of  his  scorching  rays  in  its  dry  habitat,  it  neither 
nods  nor  droops  even  during  prolonged  drought  ;  and  yet  many 
people  confuse  it  with  the  gracefully  pendent,  swaying  bells  of 
the  yellow  Canada  lily,  which  will  grow  in  a  swamp  rather 
than  forego  moisture.  Li,  the  Celtic  for  white,  from  which  the 
family  derived  its  name,  makes  this  bright-hued  flower  blush  to 
own  it.  Seedsmen,  who  export  quantities  of  our  superb  native 
lilies  to  Europe,  supply  bulbs  so  cheap  that  no  one  should  wait 
four  years  for  flowers  from  seed,  or  go  without  their  splendor  in 
our  over-conventional  gardens.  Why  this  early  lily  is  radiantly 
colored  and  speckled  is  told  on  p.  278. 

The  Western  Red  Lily  (L.  umbellatum),  that  takes  the  place 
of  the  Philadelphia  species  from  Ohio,  Minnesota,  and  the  North- 
west Territory,  southward  to  Missouri,  Arkansas,  and  Colorado, 
lifts  similar  but  smaller  red,  orange,  or  yellow  flowers  on  a  more 
slender  stem,  two  feet  high  or  less,  set  with  narrow,  linear,  alter- 
nate leaves,  or  perhaps  the  upper  ones  in  whorls.  It  blooms  in 
June  or  July,  in  dry  soil,  preferably  in  open,  sandy  situations. 

Large  Coral-root 

(Corallorhi^a  multiflord)  Orchid  family 

Flowers — Dull  brownish  purple,  about  >4  in.  high;  10  to  30  borne 
in  a  raceme  2  to  8  in.  long.  Petals  about  the  length  of  sepals, 


Red  and  Indefinites 

and  somewhat  united  at  the  base  ;  spur  yellowish,  the  oval 
lip  white,  spotted  and  lined  with  purplish;  3-lobed,  wavy 
edged.  Scape,  8  to  20  in.  tall,  colored,  furnished  with  several 
flat  scales.  Leaves:  None.  Root:  A  branching,  coral-like 
mass. 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry  woods. 

Flowering  Season—]  uly — September. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia,  westward  to  British  Columbia  ;  south 
to  Florida,  Missouri,  and  California. 

To  the  majority  of  people  the  very  word  orchid  suggests  a 
millionaire's  hothouse,  or  some  fashionable  florist's  show  window, 
where  tropical  air  plants  send  forth  gorgeous  blossoms,  exquisite 
in  color,  marvellous  in  form  ;  so  that  when  this  insignificant  little 
stalk  pokes  its  way  through  the  soil  at  midsummer  and  produces 
some  dull  flowers  of  indefinite  shades  and  no  leaves  at  all  to  help 
make  them  attractive,  one  feels  that  the  coral-root  is  a  very  poor 
relation  of  theirs  indeed.  The  prettily  marked  lower  lip,  at  once 
a  platform  and  nectar  guide  to  the  insect  alighting  on  it,  is  all  that 
suggests  ambition  worthy  of  an  orchid. 

If  poverty  of  men  and  nations  can  be  traced  to  certain  radical 
causes  by  the  social  economist,  just  as  surely  can  the  botanist  ac- 
count for  loss  of  leaves — riches — by  closely  examining  the  poverty- 
stricken  plant.  Every  phenomenon  has  its  explanation.  A  glance 
at  the  extraordinary  formation  under  ground  reveals  the  fact  that 
the  coral-roots,  although  related  to  the  most  aristocratic  and  highly 
organized  plants  in  existence,  have  stooped  to  become  ghoulish 
saprophytes.  An  honest  herb  abounds  in  good  green  coloring 
matter  (chlorophyll),  that  serves  as  a  light  screen  to  the  cellular 
juices  of  leaf  and  stem.  It  also  forms  part  of  its  digestive  apparatus, 
aiding  a  plant  in  the  manufacture  of  its  own  food  out  of  the  soil, 
water,  and  gases  ;  whereas  a  plant  that  lives  by  piracy — a  para- 
site— or  a  saprophyte,  that  sucks  up  the  already  assimilated 
products  of  another's  decay,  loses  its  useless  chlorophyll  as 
surely  as  if  it  had  been  kept  in  a  cellar.  In  time  its  equally 
useless  leaves  dwindle  to  bracts,  or  disappear.  Nature  wastes 
no  energy.  Fungi,  for  example,  are  both  parasites  and  sapro- 
phytes ;  and  so  when  plants  far  higher  up  in  the  evolutionary  scale 
than  they  lose  leaves  and  green  color  too,  we  may  know  they 
are  degenerates  belonging  to  that  disreputable  gang  of  branded 
sinners  which  includes  the  Indian-pipe,  broom-rape,  dodder,  pine- 
sap,  and  beech-drops.  Others,  like  the  gerardias  and  foxgloves, 
may  even  now  be  detected  on  the  brink  of  a  fall  from  grace. 

The  Early  Coral-root  (C.  Corallorhi^a) — C.  innata  of  Gray 
— a  similar  but  smaller  species,  whose  loose  spike  of  dull  purplish 
flowers  likewise  terminates  a  scaly  purplish  or  yellowish  scape 
arising  from  a  mass  of  short,  thick,  whitish,  fleshy,  blunt  fibres, 
may  be  found  in  the  moist  woods  blooming  in  May  or  June.  It 

372 


Red  and  Indefinites 

has  a  more  northerly  range,  however,  extending  from  the  moun- 
tains of  Georgia,  it  is  true,  but  chiefly  from  the  northern  boundary 
of  the  United  States,  from  New  England  westward  to  the  State  of 
Washington,  and  northward  to  Nova  Scotia  and  Alaska. 


Adam  and  Eve;  Putty-root 

(Aplectrum  spicatum)  Orchid  family 
(A.  hyemale  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Dingy  yellowish  brown  and  purplish,  about  I  in.  long, 
each  on  a  short  pedicel,  in  a  few-flowered,  loose,  bracted 
raceme  2  to  4  in.  long.  No  spur  ;  sepals  and  petals  similar, 
small  and  narrow,  the  lip  wavy-edged.  Scape :  \  to  2  ft. 
high,  smooth,  with  about  3  sheathing  scales.  Leaf :  Solitary, 
rising  from  the  corm  in  autumn,  elliptic,  broad,  plaited-nerved, 
4  to  6  in.  long.  Root :  A  corm  usually  attached  to  one  of 
the  preceding  season. 

Preferred  Habitat — Moist  woods  or  swamps. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

Distribution — Georgia,  Missouri,  and  California  northward,  into 
British  Possessions. 

More  curious  than  beautiful  is  this  small  orchid  whose  dingy 
flowers  of  indefinite  color  and  without  spurs  interest  us  far  less 
than  the  two  corms  barely  hidden  below  ground.  These  singu- 
lar solid  bulbs,  about  an  inch  thick,  are  connected  by  a  slender  stalk, 
suggesting  to  the  imaginative  person  who  named  the  plant  our 
first  parents  standing  hand  in  hand  in  the  Garden  of  Eden. 

But  usually  several  old  corms — not  always  two,  by  any  means 
— remain  attached  to  the  nearest  one,  a  bulb  being  produced  each 
year  until  Cain  and  Abel  often  join  Adam  and  Eve  to  make  up 
quite  a  family  group.  A  strong,  glutinous  matter  within  the 
corms  has  been  used  as  a  cement,  hence  the  plant's  other  popular 
name.  From  the  newest  bulb  added,  a  solitary  large  leaf  arises 
in  late  summer  or  autumn,  to  remain  all  winter.  The  flower  stalk 
comes  up  at  one  side  of  it  the  following  spring.  Meantime  the 
old  corms  retain  their  life,  apparently  to  help  nourish  the  young 
one  still  joined  to  them,  while  its  system  is  taxed  with  flowering. 


Wild  Ginger;  Canada  Snakeroot;  Asarabacca 

(Asarum  Canadense)  Birthwort  family 

Flower—  Solitary,  dull  purplish  brown,  creamy  white  within,  about 
i  in.  broad  when  expanded,  borne  on  a  short  peduncle  close 

373 


Red  and  Indefinites 

to  or  upon  the  ground.  Calyx  cup-shaped,  deeply  cleft,  its 
3  acutely  pointed  lobes  spreading,  curved  ;  corolla  wanting  ; 
12  short,  stout  stamens  inserted  on  ovary  ;  the  thick  style 
6-lobed,  its  stigmas  radiating  on  the  lobes.  Leaves :  A  single 
pair,  dark  green,  reniform,  4  to  7  in.  broad,  on  downy  petioles 
6  to  12  in.  high,  from  a  creeping,  thick,  aromatic,  pungent 
rootstock. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Rich,  moist  woods  ;  hillsides. 

Flowering  Season — March — May. 

Distribution — North  Carolina,  Missouri,  and  Kansas,  northward  to 
New  Brunswick  and  Manitoba. 

Like  the  wicked  servant  who  buried  the  one  talent  entrusted 
to  his  care,  the  wild  ginger  hides  its  solitary  flower  if  not  actually 
under  the  dry  leaves  that  clothe  the  ground  in  the  still  leafless 
woodlands,  then  not  far  above  them.  Why  ?  When  most  plants 
flaunt  their  showy  blossoms  aloft,  where  they  may  be  seen  of  all, 
why  should  this  one  bear  only  one  dull,  firm  cup,  inconspicuous 
in  color  as  in  situation  ?  In  early  spring — and  it  is  one  of  the 
earliest  flowers — gnats  and  small  flies  are  warming  into  active  life 
from  the  maggots  that  have  lain  under  dead  leaves  and  the  bark  of 
decaying  logs  all  winter.  To  such  guests  a  flower  need  offer  few 
attractions  to  secure  them  in  swarms.  Bright,  beautiful  colors, 
sweet  fragrance,  luscious  nectar,  with  which  the  highly  specialized 
bees,  butterflies,  and  moths  are  wooed,  would  all  be  lost  on  them, 
lacking  as  they  do  aesthetic  taste.  For  flies,  a  snug  shelter  from  cold 
spring  winds  such  asjack-in-the-pulpit,  the  marsh  calla,  the  pitcher- 
plant,  or  the  skunk  cabbage  offers  ;  sometimes  a  foetid  odor  like 
the  latter's,  or  dull  purplish  red  or  brownish  color  resembling  stale 
meat,  which  the  purple  trillium  likewise  wears  as  an  additional  at- 
traction, are  necessary  when  certain  carrion  flies  must  be  catered 
to ;  and,  above  all,  an  abundance  of  pollen  for  food — with  any  or  all 
of  these  seductions  a  flower  dependent  on  flies  has  nothing  to  fear 
from  neglect.  Therefore  the  wild  ginger  does  not  even  attempt 
to  fertilize  itself.  Within  the  cosey  cup  one  can  usually  find  a  con- 
tented fly  seeking  shelter  or  food.  Close  to  the  ground  it  is  warm 
and  less  windy.  When  the  cup  first  opens,  only  the  stigmas  are 
mature  and  sticky  to  receive  any  pollen  the  visitors  may  bring  in  on 
their  bodies  from  other  asylums  where  they  have  been  hiding. 
These  stigmas  presently  withering,  up  rise  the  twelve  stamens 
beside  them  to  dust  with  pollen  the  flies  coming  in  search  of  it. 
Only  one  flower  from  a  root  compels  cross-fertilizing  between 
flowers  of  distinct  plants — a  means  to  insure  the  most  vigorous 
seed,  as  Darwin  proved.  Evidently  the  ginger  is  striving  to  attain 
some  day  the  ambitious  mechanism  for  temporarily  imprisoning 
its  guests  that  its  cousin  the  Dutchman's  pipe  has  perfected.  After 
fertilization  the  cup  nods,  inverted,  and  the  leathery  capsule  follow- 
ing it  bursts  irregularly,  discharging  many  seeds. 

374 


Red  and  Indefinites 

No  ruminant  will  touch  the  leaves,  owing  to  their  bitter  juices, 
nor  will  a  grub  or  nibbling  rodent  molest  the  root,  which  bites  like 
ginger  ;  nevertheless  credulous  mankind  once  utilized  the  plant  as 
a  tonic  medicine. 


Dutchman's  Pipe;    Pipe-vine 

(Aristolochia  macrophylld) 
(A.  Sipho  of  Gray) 

Flower — An  inflated,  curved,  yellowish-green,  veiny  tube  (calyx), 
pipe-shaped,  except  that  it  abruptly  broadens  beyond  the  con- 
tracted throat  into  3  flat,  spreading,  dark  purplish  or  reddish- 
brown  lobes;  pipe  i  to  i>£  in.  long,  borne  on  a  long,  droop- 
ing peduncle,  either  solitary  or  2  or  3  together,  from  the  bracted 
leaf-axils  ;  6  anthers,  without  filaments,  in  united  pairs  under 
the  3  lobes  of  the  short,  thick  stigma.  Stem :  A  very  long, 
twining  vine,  the  branches  smooth  and  green.  Leaves :  Thin, 
reniform  to  heart-shaped,  slender  petioled,  downy  under- 
neath when  young  ;  6  to  15  in.  broad  when  mature. 

Fruit — An  oblong,  cylindric  capsule,  containing  quantities  of  seeds 
within  its  six  sections. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rich,  moist  woods. 

Flowering^  Season — May— June. 

Distribution — Pennsylvania,  westward  to  Minnesota,  south  to 
Georgia  and  Kansas.  Escaped  from  cultivation  further  north. 

After  learning  why  the  pitcher  plant,  Jack-in-the-pulpit,  and 
skunk  cabbage  are  colored  and  shaped  as  they  are,  no  one  will  be 
surprised  on  opening  this  curious  flower  to  find  numbers  of  little 
flies  within  the  pipe.  Certain  relatives  of  this  vine  produce  flow- 
ers that  are  not  only  colored  like  livid,  putrid  meat  around  the 
entrance,  but  also  emit  a  foetid  odor  to  attract  carrion  flies  espe- 
cially. (See  purple  trillium,  p.  7.) 

"In  May,  when  the  pipe-vine  blooms,  gauzy-winged  small 
flies  and  gnats  gladly  seek  food  and  shelter  from  the  wind  within 
so  attractive  an  asylum  as  the  curving  tube  offers.  They  enter 
easily  enough  through  the  narrow  throat,  around  which  fine  hairs 
point  downward — an  entrance  resembling  an  eel  trap's.  Any 
pollen  they  may  bring  in  on  their  bodies  now  rubs  off  on  the 
sticky  stigma  lobes,  already  matured  at  the  bottom  of  a  newly 
opened  flower,  in  which  they  buzz,  crawl,  slide,  and  slip,  seeking 
an  avenue  of  escape.  None  presents  itself :  they  are  imprisoned  ! 
The  hairs  at  the  entrance,  approached  from  within,  form  an  im- 
penetrable stockade.  Must  the  poor  little  creatures  perish  ?  <  Is 
the  flower  heartless  enough  to  murder  its  benefactors,  on  which 
the  continuance  of  its  species  depends  ?  By  no  means  is  it  so 

375 


Red  and  Indefinites 

shortsighted  !  A  few  tiny  drops  of  nectar  exuding  from  the  centre 
table  prevent  the  visitors  from  starving.  Presently  the  fertilized 
stigmas  wither,  and  when  they  have  safely  escaped  the  danger  of 
self-fertilization,  the  pollen  hidden  under  their  lobes  ripens  and 
dusts  afresh  the  little  flies  so  impatiently  awaiting  the  feast.  Now, 
and  not  till  now,  it  is  to  the  advantage  of  the  species  that  the 
prisoners  be  released,  that  they  may  carry  the  vitalizing  dust  to 
stigmas  waiting  for  it  in  younger  flowers.  Accordingly,  the  slip- 
pery pipe  begins  to  shrivel,  thus  offering  a  foothold  ;  the  once 
stiff  hairs  that  guarded  its  exit  grow  limp,  and  the  happy  gnats, 
after  a  generous  entertainment  and  snug  protection,  escape  unin- 
jured, and  by  no  means  unwilling  to  repeat  the  experience. 
Evidently  the  wild  ginger,  belonging  to  a  genus  next  of  kin,  is 
striving  to  perfect  a  similar  prison.  In  the  language  of  the  street, 
the  ginger  flower  does  not  yet  "work"  its  visitors  "for  all  they 
are  worth." 

Later,  when  we  see  the  exquisite  dark,  velvety,  blue-green, 
pipe-vine  swallow-tail  butterfly  (Papilio  philenor)  hovering 
about  verandas  or  woodland  bowers  that  are  shaded  with  the 
pipe-vine's  large  leaves,  we  may  know  she  is  there  only  to  lay 
eggs  that  her  caterpillar  descendants  may  find  themselves  on  their 
favorite  food  store. 


The  Virginia  Snakeroot,  or  Serpentary  (A.  Serpentarid),  found 
in  dry  woods,  chiefly  in  the  Middle  States  and  South,  although  its 
range  extends  northward  to  Connecticut,  New  York,  and  Michi- 
gan, is  the  species  whose  aromatic  root  is  used  in  medicine.  It 
is  a  low-growing  herb,  not  a  vine ;  its  heart-shaped  leaves, 
which  are  narrow  and  tapering  to  a  point,  are  green  on  both  sides, 
and  the  curious,  greenish,  S-shaped  flower,  which  grows  alone  at 
the  tip  of  a  scaly  footstalk  from  the  root,  appears  in  June  or  July. 
Sometimes  the  flowers  are  cleistogamous  (see  p.  108). 


Fire  Pink;  Virginia  Catchfly 

(Silene  Virginica)  Pink  family 

Flowers — Scarlet  or  crimson,  i}£  in.  broad  or  less,  a  few  on  slender 
pedicels  from  the  upper  leaf-axils.  Calyx  sticky,  tubular,  bell- 
shaped,  5-cleft,  enlarged  in  fruit;  corolla  of  5  wide-spread, 
narrow,  notched  petals,  sometimes  deeply  2-cleft ;  10 
stamens  ;  3  styles.  Stem :  i  to  2  ft.  high  ;  erect,  slender, 
sticky.  Leaves:  Thin,  spatulate,  3  to  5  in.  long  ;  or  upper 
ones  oblong  to  lance-shaped. 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry,  open  woodland. 

Flowering  Season — May — September. 

376 


Red  and  Indefinites 

Distribution — Southern  New  Jersey  to  Minnesota,  south  to  Georgia 
and  Missouri. 

The  rich,  glowing  scarlet  of  these  pinks  that  fleck  the  Southern 
woodland  as  with  fire,  will  light  up  our  Northern  rock  gardens 
too,  if  we  but  sow  the  seed  under  glass  in  earliest  spring,  and  set 
out  the  young  plants  in  well-drained,  open  ground  in  May.  Di- 
vision of  old  perennial  roots  causes  the  plants  to  sulk  ;  dampness 
destroys"  them. 

To  the  brilliant  blossoms  butterflies  chiefly  come  to  sip  (see 
p.  92),  and  an  occasional  humming  bird,  fascinated  by  the  color 
that  seems  ever  irresistible  to  him,  hovers  above  them  on  whirring 
wings.  Hapless  ants,  starting  to  crawl  up  the  stem,  become  more 
and  more  discouraged  by  its  stickiness,  and  if  they  persevere  in 
their  attempts  to  steal  from  the  butterfly's  legitimate  preserves, 
death  overtakes  their  erring  feet  as  speedily  as  if  they  ventured  on 
sticky  fly  paper.  How  humane  is  the  way  to  protect  flowers  from 
crawling  thieves  that  has  been  adopted  by  the  high-bush  cranberry 
and  the  partridge  pea  (p.  308),  among  other  plants  !  These  pro- 
vide a  free  lunch  of  sweets  in  the  glands  of  their  leaves  to  satisfy 
pilferers,  which  then  seek  no  farther,  leaving  the  flowers  to  winged 
insects  that  are  at  once  despoilers  and  benefactors. 


Wild  Columbine 

(Aquilegia  Canadensis)  Crowfoot  family 

Flower— -Red  outside,  yellow  within,  irregular,  I  to  2  in.  long, 
solitary,  nodding  from  a  curved  footstalk  from  the  upper 
leaf-axils.  Petals  5,  funnel-shaped,  but  quickly  narrowing 
into  long,  erect,  very  slender  hollow  spurs,  rounded  at  the  tip 
and  united  below  by  the  5  spreading  red  sepals,  between 
which  the  straight  spurs  ascend;  numerous  stamens  and  5 
pistils  projecting.  Stem :  i  to  2  ft.  high,  branching,  soft-hairy 
or  smooth.  Leaves :  More  or  less  divided,  the  lobes  with 
rounded  teeth  ;•  large  lower  compound  leaves  on  long 
petioles.  Fruit:  An  erect  pod,  each  of  the  5  divisions 
tipped  with  a  long,  sharp  beak. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Rocky  places,  rich  woodland. 

Flowering  Season— April — July. 

Distribution— Nova  Scotia  to  the  Northwest  Territory  ;  southward 
to  the  Gulf  States.  Rocky  Mountains. 

Although  under  cultivation  the  columbine  nearly  doubles  its 
size,  it  never  has  the  elfin  charm  in  a  conventional  garden  that  it 
possesses  wild  in  Nature's.  Dancing  in  red  and  yellow  petticoats, 

377 


Red  and  Indefinites 

to  the  rhythm  of  the  breeze,  along  the  ledge  of  overhanging 
rocks,  it  coquettes  with  some  Punchinello  as  if  daring  him  to 
reach  her  at  his  peril.  Who  is  he  ?  Let  us  sit  a  while  on  the 
rocky  ledge  and  watch  for  her  lovers. 

Presently  a  big  muscular  bumblebee  booms  along.  Owing  to 
his  great  strength,  an  inverted,  pendent  blossom,  from  which  he 
must  cling  upside  down,  has  no  more  terrors  for  him  than  a 
trapeze  for  the  trained  acrobat.  His  long  tongue — if  he  is  one  of 
the  largest  of  our  sixty-two  species  of  Bombus — can  suck  almost 
any  flower  unless  it  is  especially  adapted  to  night-flying  sphinx 
moths,  but  can  he  drain  this  ?  He  is  the  truest  benefactor  of  the 
European  columbine  (A.  vulgaris,  see  p.  15),  whose  spurs  sug- 
gested the  talons  of  an  eagle  (aquila)  to  imaginative  Linnaeus 
when  he  gave  this  group  of  plants  its  generic  name.  Smaller 
bumblebees,  unable  through  the  shortness  of  their  tongues  to 
feast  in  a  legitimate  manner,  may  be  detected  nipping  holes  in  the 
tips  of  all  columbines,  where  the  nectar  is  secreted,  just  as  they  do 
in  larkspurs,  Dutchman's  breeches,  squirrel  corn,  butter  and  eggs, 
and  other  flowers  whose  deeply  hidden  nectaries  make  dining  too 
difficult  for  the  little  rogues.  Fragile  butterflies,  absolutely  de- 
pendent on  nectar,  hover  near  our  showy  wild  columbine  with 
its  five  tempting  horns  of  plenty,  but  sail  away  again,  knowing 
as  they  do  that  their  weak  legs  are  not  calculated  to  stand  the 
strain  of  an  inverted  position  from  a  pendent  flower,  nor  are  their 
tongues  adapted  to  slender  tubes  unless  these  may  be  entered  from 
above.  The  tongues  of  both  butterflies  and  moths  bend  readily 
only  when  directed  beneath  their  bodies.  It  will  be  noticed  that 
our  columbine's  funnel-shaped  tubes  contract  just  below  the  point 
where  the  nectar  is  secreted — doubtless  to  protect  it  from  small 
bees.  When  we  see  the  honey-bee  or  the  little  wild  bees — Halictus 
chiefly — on  the  flower,  we  may  know  they  get  pollen  only. 

Finally  a  ruby-throated  humming  bird  whirs  into  sight.  Pois- 
ing before'a  columbine,  and  moving  around  it  to  drain  one  spur 
after  another  until  the  five  are  emptied,  he  flashes  like  thought  to 
another  group  of  inverted  red  cornucopias,  visits  in  turn  every 
flower  in  the  colony,  then  whirs  away  quite  as  suddenly  as  he 
came.  Probably  to  him,  and  no  longer  to  the  outgrown  bumble- 
bee, has  the  flower  adapted  itself.  The  European  species  wears 
blue,  the  bee's  favorite  color  according  to  Sir  John  Lubbock  ;  the 
nectar  hidden  in  its  spurs,  which  are  shorter,  stouter,  and  curved, 
is  accessible  only  to  the  largest  humblebees.  There  are  no  hum- 
ming birds  in  Europe.  (See  jewel-weed,  p.  314.)  Our  native 
columbine,  on  the  contrary,  has  longer,  contracted,  straight,  erect 
spurs,  most  easily  drained  by  the  ruby-throat  which,  like  Eugene 
Field,  ever  delights  in  "any  color  at  all  so  long  as  it's  red." 

To  help  make  the  columbine  conspicuous,  even  the  sepals 
become  red  ;  but  the  flower  is  yellow  within,  it  is  thought  to  guide 
visitors  to  the  nectaries.  The  stamens  protrude  like  a  golden  tassel. 

378 


WILD  COLUMBINE. 
(Aquilegia  Canadensis.) 


Red  and  Indefinites 

After  the  anthers  pass  the  still  immature  stigmas,  the  pollen  of  the 
outer  row  ripens,  ready  for  removal,  while  the  inner  row  of  un- 
developed stamens  still  acts  as  a  sheath  for  the  stigmas.  Owing 
to  the  pendent  position  of  the  flower,  no  pollen  could  fall  on  the 
latter  in  any  case.  The  columbine  is  too  highly  organized  to  tolerate 
self-fertilization.  When  all  the  stamens  have  discharged  their 
pollen,  the  styles  then  elongate  ;  and  the  feathery  stigmas,  opening 
and  curving  sidewise,  bring  themselves  at  the  entrance  of  each  of 
the  five  cornucopias,  just  the  position  the  anthers  previously 
occupied.  Probably  even  the  small  bees,  collecting  pollen  only, 
help  carry  some  from  flower  to  flower  ;  but  perhaps  the  largest 
bumblebees,  and  certainly  the  humming  bird,  must  be  regarded 
as  the  columbine's  legitimate  benefactors.  Caterpillars  of  one  of 
the  dusky  wings  (Papilio  lucilius)  feed  on  the  leaves. 

Very  rarely  is  the  columbine  white,  and  then  its  name,  derived 
from  words  meaning  two  doves,  does  not  seem  wholly  mis- 
applied. 

"  O  Columbine,  open  your  folded  wrapper 
Where  two  twin  turtle-doves  dwell," 

lisp  thousands  of  children  speaking  the  "Songs  of  Seven"  as 
a  first  "  piece"  at  school.  How  Emerson  loved  the  columbine  ! 
Dr.  Prior  says  the  flower  was  given  its  name  because  "of  the 
resemblance  of  the  nectaries  to  the  heads  of  pigeons  in  a  ring 
around  a  dish — a  favorite  device  of  ancient  artists." 

This  exquisite  plant  was  forwarded  from  the  Virginia  colony 
to  England  for  the  gardens  of  Hampton  Court  by  a  young  kins- 
man of  Tradescant,  gardener  and  herbalist  to  Charles  I. 


Pitcher-plant;  Side-saddle  Flower;  Hunts- 
man's Cup;   Indian   Dipper 

(Sarracenea  purpurea)  Pitcher-plant  family 

Flower — Deep  reddish  purple,  sometimes  partly  greenish,  pink,  or 
red,  2  in.  or  more  across,  globose  ;  solitary,  nodding  from 
scape  i  to  2  ft.  tall.  Calyx  of  5  sepals,  with  3  or  4  bracts  at 
base  ;  5  overlapping  petals,  enclosing  a  yellowish,  umbrella- 
shaped  dilation  of  the  style,  with  5  rays  terminating  in  5- 
hooked  stigmas;  stamens  indefinite.  Leaves:  Hollow,  pitcher- 
shaped  through  the  folding  together  of  their  margins,  leaving 
a  broad  wing  ;  much  inflated,  hooded,  yellowish  green  with 
dark  maroon  or  purple  lines  and  veinings,  4  to  12  in.  long, 
curved,  in  a  tuft  from  the  root. 

Preferred  Habitat — Peat-bogs  ;  spongy,  mossy  swamps. 

Flowering  Season — May — June. 

379 


Red  and  Indefinite! 

Distribution — Labrador  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  south  to  Florida, 
Kentucky,  and  Minnesota. 

"  What's  this  1  hear 
About  the  new  carnivora  ? 

Can  little  plants 

Eat  bugs  and  ants 

And  gnats  and  flies  ?— 
A  sort  of  retrograding  : 

Surely  the  fare 

Of  flowers  is  air 

Or  sunshine  sweet  ; 

They  shouldn't  eat 
Or  do  aught  so  degrading  !  " 

There  must  always  be  something  shocking  in  the  sacrifice  of 
the  higher  life  to  the  lower,  of  the  sensate  to  what  we  are  pleased 
to  call  the  insensate,  although  no  one  who  has  studied  the  mar- 
vellously intelligent  motives  that  impel  a  plant's  activities  can  any 
longer  consider  the  vegetable  creation  as  lacking  sensibility. 
Science  is  at  length  giving  us  a  glimmering  of  the  meaning  of  the 
word  universe,  teaching,  as  it  does,  that  all  creatures  in  sharing  the 
One  Life  share  in  many  of  its  powers,  and  differ  from  one  another 
only  in  degree  of  possession,  not  in  kind.  The  transition  from 
one  so-called  kingdom  into  another  presumably  higher  one  is  a 
purely  arbitrary  line  marked  by  man,  and  often  impossible  to 
define.  The  animalcule  and  the  insectivorous  plant  know  no 
boundaries  between  the  animal  and  the  vegetable.  And  who 
shall  say  that  the  sun-dew  or  the  bladderwort  is  not  a  higher 
organism  than  the  amoeba  ?  Animated  plants  and  vegetating 
animals  parallel  each  other.  Several  hundred  carnivorous  plants 
in  all  parts  of  the  world  have  now  been  named  by  scientists. 

It  is  well  worth  a  journey  to  some  spongy,  spagnum  bog  to 
gather  clumps  of  pitcher-plants  which  will  furnish  an  interesting 
study  to  an  entire  household  throughout  the  summer  while  they 
pursue  their  nefarious  business  in  a  shallow  bowl  on  the  veranda. 
A  modification  of  the  petiole  forms  a  deep  hollow  pitcher  having 
for  its  spout  a  modification  of  the  blade  of  the  leaf.  Usually  the 
pitchers  are  half  filled  with  water  and  tiny  drowned  victims  when 
we  gather  them.  Some  of  this  fluid  must  be  rain,  but  the  open 
pitcher  secretes  much  juice  too.  Certain  relatives,  whose  pitchers 
have  hooded  lids  that  keep  out  rain,  are  nevertheless  filled  with 
fluid.  On  the  Pacific  Coast  the  golden  jars  of  Darlingtonia  Cali- 
fornica,  with  their  overarching  hoods,  are  often  so  large  and 
watery  as  to  drown  small  birds  and  field  mice.  Note  in  passing 
that  these  otherwise  dark  prisons  have  translucent  spots  at  the  top, 
whereas  our  pitcher-plant  is  lighted  through  its  open  transom. 

A  sweet  secretion  within  the  pitcher's  rim,  which  some  say 
is  intoxicating,  others  that  it  is  an  anaesthetic,  invites  insects  to  a 
fatal  feast.  It  is  a  simple  enough  matter  for  them  to  walk  into  the 

380 


Red  and  Indefinites 

pitcher  over  the  band  of  stiff  hairs,  pointing  downward  like  the 
withes  of  a  lobster  pot,  that  form  an  inner  covering,  or  to  slip  into 
the  well  if  thev  attempt  crawling  over  its  polished  upper  surface. 
To  fly  upward  in  a  perpendicular  line  once  their  wings  are  wet 
is  additionally  hopeless,  because  of  the  hairs  that  guard  the  mouth 
of  the  trap  ;  and  so,  after  vain  attempts  to  fly  or  crawl  out  of  the 
prison,  they  usually  sink  exhausted  into  a  watery  grave. 

When  certain  plants  live  in  soil  that  is  so  poor  in  nitrogen 
compounds  that  proteid  formation  is  interfered  with,  they  have 
come  to  depend  more  or  less  on  a  carnivorous  diet.  The  sundew 
(see  p.  192)  actually  digests  its  prey  with  the  help  of  a  gastric 
juice  similar  to  what  is  found  in  the  stomach  of  animals  ;  but  the 
bladderwort  (p.  335)  and  pitcher-plants  can  only  absorb  in  the 
form  of  soup  the  products  of  their  victims'  decay.  Flies  and  gnats 
drowned  in  these  pitchers  quickly  yield  their  poor  little  bodies; 
but  owing  to  the  beetle's  hard-shell  covering,  many  a  rare  speci- 
men may  be  rescued  intact  to  add  to  a  collection. 

A  similar  ogre  plant  is  the  yellow-flowered  Trumpet-leaf 
(S.  flava)  found  in  bogs  in  the  Southern  States. 


Ground-nut 

(Apios  Apios)  Pea  family 
(A.  tuberosa  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Fragrant,  chocolate  brown  and  reddish  purple,  numerous, 
about  y-z  in.  long,  clustered  in  racemes  from  the  leaf-axils. 
Calyx  2-lipped,  corolla  papilionaceous,  the  broad  standard 
petal  turned  backward,  the  keel  sickle-shaped  ;  stamens  within 
it  9  and  i.  Stem:  From  tuberous,  edible  rootstock  ;  climbing, 
slender,  several  feet  long,  the  juice  milky.  Leaves:  Com- 
pounded of  5  to  7  ovate  leaflets.  Fruit:  A  leathery,  slightly 
curved  pod,  2  to  4  in.  long. 

Preferred  Habitat — Twining  about  undergrowth  and  thickets  in 
moist  or  wet  ground. 

Flowering  Season — J uly — September. 

Distribution — New  Brunswick  to  Ontario,  south  to  the  Gulf  States 
and  Kansas. 

No  one  knows  better  than  the  omnivorous  "barefoot  boy  "  that 

"  Where  the  ground-nut  trails  its  vine  " 

there  is  hidden  something  really  good  to  eat  under  the  soft,  moist 
soil  where  legions  of  royal  fern,  usually  standing  guard  above  it, 
must  be  crushed  before  he  digs  up  the  coveted  tubers.  He  would 
be  the  last  to  confuse  it  with  the  Wild  Kidney  Bean  or  Bean  Vine 

381 


Red  and  Indefinites 

(Phaseolus  polystachyus) — P.  perennis  of  Gray.  The  latter  has 
loose  racemes  of  smaller  purple  flowers  and  leaflets  in  threes  ; 
nevertheless  it  is  often  confounded  with  the  ground-nut  vine  by 
older  naturalists  whose  knowledge  was  "learned  of  schools." 

Usually  a  bee,  simply  by  alighting  on  the  wings  of  a  blossom 
belonging  to  the  pea  family,  releases  the  stamens  and  pistil  from 
the  keel  ;  not  so  here.  The  sickle-shaped  keel  of  the  ground-nut's 
flower  rests  its  tip  firmly  in  a  notch  of  the  standard  petal,  nor  will 
any  jar  or  pressure  from  outside  release  it.  A  bee,  guided  to  the 
nectary  by  the  darker  color  of  the  under  side  of  the  curved  keel 
which  spans  the  open  cavity  of  the  flower,  enters,  at  least  partially, 
and  so  releases  by  his  pressure,  applied  from  underneath,  the  tip  of 
the  sickle  from  its  notch  in  the  standard.  Now  the  released  keel 
curves  all  the  more,  and  splits  open  to  release  the  stigmatic  tip  of 
the  style  that  touches  any  pollen  the  bee  may  have  brought  from 
another  blossom.  Continuing  to  curve  and  coil  while  the  bee 
sucks,  it  presently  dusts  him  afresh  with  pollen  from  the  now  re- 
leased anthers.  A  mass  of  pulp  between  anthers  and  stigma 
prevents  any  of  the  flower's  own  pollen  from  self-fertilizing  it. 
These  little  blossoms,  barely  half  an  inch  long,  with  their  ingenious 
mechanism  to  compel  cross-fertilization,  repay  the  closest  study. 

At  midnight  the  leaves  of  the  ground-nut  and  wild  bean  "are 
hardly  to  be  recognized  in  their  queer  antics,"  says  William  Hamil- 
ton Gibson.  "  The  garden  beans  too  play  similar  pranks.  Those 
lima  bean  poles  of  the  garden  hold  a  sleepy  crowd." 


Pine  Sap;  False  Beech-drops;  Yellow  Bird's- 
nest 

(Hypopitis  Hypopitis)  Indian-pipe  family 
(Monotropa  Hypopitis  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Tawny,  yejjow,  ecru,  brownish  pink,  reddish,  or  bright 
crimson,  fragrant,  about  ^  in.  long  ;  oblong  bell-shaped  ; 
borne  in  a  one-sided,  terminal,  slightly  drooping  raceme,  be- 
coming erect  after  maturity.  Scapes  :  Clustered  from  a  dense 
mass  of  fleshy,  fibrous  roots  ;  4  to  12  in.  tall,  scaly  bracted, 
the  bractlets  resembling  the  sepals.  Leaves :  None. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Dry  woods,  especially  under  fir,  beech,  and 
oak  trees. 

Flowering  Season — June — October. 

Distribution — Florida  and  Arizona,  far  northward  into  British  Pos- 
sessions. Europe  and  Asia. 

Branded  a  sinner,  through  its  loss  of  leaves  and  honest  green 
coloring  matter  (chlorophyll),  the  pine  sap  stands  among  the  dis- 

382 


Red  and  Indefinites 

reputable  gang  of  thieves  that  includes  its  next  of  kin  the  Indian- 
pipe  (see  p.  233),  the  broom-rape,  dodder,  coral-root,  and  beech- 
drops.  Degenerates  like  these,  although  members  of  highly 
respectable,  industrious,  virtuous  families,  would  appear  to  be  as 
low  in  the  vegetable  kingdom  as  any  fungus,  were  it  not  for  the 
flowers  they  still  bear.  Petty  larceny,  no  greater  than  the  fox- 
glove's at  first,  then  greater  and  greater  thefts,  finally  lead  to  ruin, 
until  the  pine-sap  parasite  either  sucks  its  food  from  the  roots  of  the 
trees  under  which  it  takes  up  its  abode,  or  absorbs,  like  a  ghoulish 
saprophyte,  the  products  of  vegetable  decay.  A  plant  that  does  not 
manufacture  its  own  dinner  has  no  need  of  chlorophyll  and  leaves, 
for  assimilation  of  crude  food  can  take  place  only  in  those  cells 
which  contain  the  vital  green.  This  substance,  universally  found 
in  plants  that  grub  in  the  soil  and  literally  sweat  for  their  daily 
bread,  acts  also  as  a  moderator  of  respiration  by  its  absorptive  in- 
fluence on  light,  and  hence  allows  the  elimination  of  carbon  diox- 
ide to  go  on  in  the  cells  which  contain  it.  Fungi  and  these 
degenerates  which  lack  chlorophyll  usually  grow  in  dark,  shady 
woods. 

Within  each  little  fragrant  pine-sap  blossom  a  fringe  of  hairs, 
radiating  from  the  style,  forms  a  stockade  against  short-tongued 
insects  that  fain  would  pilfer  from  the  bees.  As  the  plant  grows 
old,  whatever  charm  it  had  in  youth  disappears,  when  an  unwhole- 
some mould  overspreads  its  features. 


Scarlet  Pimpernel;  Poor  Man's  or  Shepherd's 
Weather-glass  ;  Red  Chickweed  ;  Burnet 
Rose;  Shepherd's  Clock 

(Anagallis  arvensis)  Primrose  family 

Flower—  Variable,  scarlet,  deep  salmon,  copper  red,  flesh  colored,  or 
rarely  white  ;  usually  darker  in  the  centre  ;  about  #  in.  across; 
wheel-shaped  ;  5-parted  ;  solitary,  on  thread-like  peduncles 
from  the  leaf-axils.  Stem:  Delicate  ;  4-sided,  4  to  12  in.  long, 
much  branched,  the  sprays  weak  and  long.  Leaves:  Oval, 
opposite,  sessile,  black  dotted  beneath. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Waste  places,  dry  fields  and  roadsides,  sandy 
soil. 

Flowering  Season — May — August. 

Distribution — Newfoundland  to  Florida,  westward  to  Minnesota 
and  Mexico. 

Tiny  pimpernel  flowers  of  a  reddish  copper  or  terra  cotta 
color  have  only  to  be  seen  to  be  named,  for  no  other  blossoms 
on  our  continent  are  of  the  same  peculiar  shade.  Thrifty  patches 
of  the  delicate  little  annuals  have  spread  themselves  around  the 

383 


Red  and  Indefinites 

civilized  globe  ;  dying  down  every  autumn,  and  depending  on 
seeds  alone  to  keep  the  foothold  once  gained  here,  in  Mexico  and 
South  America,  Europe,  Egypt,  Abyssinia,  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
Mauritius,  New  Holland,  Nepaul,  Persia,  and  China.  What  amaz- 
ing travellers  plants  are  !  The  blue-flowered  plants  are  now  be- 
lieved to  be  a  distinct  species  (A.  coerulea). 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  many  birds  delight  to  feast  on 
the  seeds,  or  perhaps  because  of  it,  for  many  must  be  dropped 
undigested,  the  scarlet  pimpernel  is  one  of  the  most  widely  dis- 
tributed species  known. 

Before  a  storm,  when  the  sun  goes  under  a  cloud,  or  on  a 
dull  day,  each  little  weather  prophet  closes.  A  score  of  pretty 
folk  names  given  it  in  every  land  it  adopts  testifies  to  its  sensitive- 
ness as  a  barometer.  Under  bright  skies  the  flower  may  be  said 
to  open  out  flat  at  about  nine  in  the  morning  and  to  begin  to 
close  at  three  in  the  afternoon.  No  nectar  is  secreted  unless  there 
may  be  some  in  the  colored  hairs  which  clothe  the  filaments.  As 
if  it  knew  perfectly  well  that  however  desirable  insect  visitors  are 
— and  it  has  an  excellent  device  for  compelling  them  to  transfer 
pollen— it  is  likewise  independent  of  them,  it  takes  no  risk  in 
exposing  the  precious  vitalizing  dust  to  wind  and  rain,  but  closes 
up  tight,  thereby  bringing  its  pollen-laden  stamens  in  contact  with 
its  stigma.  Manifestly,  it  is  better  for  a  plant  having  aspirations  to 
colonize  the  globe  to  set  even  self-fertilized  seed  than  none  at  all. 


Hound's  Tongue;  Gipsy  Flower 

(Cynoglossum  officinale)  Borage  family 

Flowers — Dull  purplish  red,  about  ]/$  in.  across,  borne  in  a  curved 
raceme  or  panicle  that  straightens  as  the  bloom  advances  up- 
ward. Calyx  ^-parted  ;  corolla  salverform,  its  5  lobes  spread- 
ing ;  5  stamens  ;  i  pistil.  Stem:  Erect,  stout,  hairy,  leafy, 
usually  branched,  i^  to  3  ft.  high.  Leaves:  Rather  pale, 
lower  ones  large,  oblong,  slender  petioled  ;  upper  ones  lance- 
shaped,  sessile,  or  clasping.  (Thought  to  resemble  a  dog's 
tongue.) 

Preferred  Habitat— Dry  fields,  waste  places. 

Flowering  Season— May — September. 

Distribution — Quebec  to  Minnesota,  south  to  the  Carolinas  and 
Kansas. 

This  is  still  another  weed  "naturalized  from  Europe"  which, 
by  contenting  itself  with  waste  land,  has  been  able  in  an  incredibly 
short  time  to  overrun  half  our  continent.  How  easy  conquest  of  our 
vast  unoccupied  area  is  for  weeds  that  have  proved  fittest  for  sur- 
vival in  the  overcultivated  Old  World  !  Protected  from  the  ravages 

384 


Red  and  Indefinites 

of  cattle  by  a  disagreeable  odor  suggesting  a  nest  of  mice,  and 
foliage  that  tastes  even  worse  than  it  smells  ;  by  hairs  on  its  stem 
that  act  as  a  light  screen  as  well  as  a  stockade  against  pilfering 
ants  ;  by  humps  on  the  petals  that  hide  the  nectar  from  winged 
trespassers  on  the  bees  and  butterflies'  preserves,  the  hound's  tongue 
goes  into  the  battle  of  life  further  armed  with  barbed  seeds  that  sheep 
must  carry  in  their  fleece,  and  other  animals,  including  most  unwill- 
ing humans,  transport  to  fresh  colonizing  ground.  For  a  plant  to 
shower  its  seeds  beside  itself  is  almost  fatal ;  so  many  offspring  im- 
poverish the  soil  and  soon  choke  each  other  to  death,  if,  indeed,  ants 
and  such  crawlers  have  not  devoured  the  seeds  where  they  lie  on  the 
ground.  Some  plants  like  the  violet,  jewel-weed,  and  witch-hazel 
forcibly  eject  theirs  a  few  inches,  feet,  or  yards.  The  wind  blows 
millions  about  with  every  gust.  Streams  and  currents  of  water 
carry  others;  ships  and  railroads  give  free  transportation  to  quanti- 
ties among  the  hay  used  in  packing  ;  birds  and  animals  lift  many  on 
their  feet — Darwin  raised  537  plants  from  a  ball  of  mud  carried  be- 
tween the  toes  of  a  snipe  ! — and  such  feathered  and  furred  agents  as 
feed  on  berries  and  other  fruits  sometimes  drop  the  seeds  a  thousand 
miles  from  the  parent.  But  it  will  be  noticed  that  such  vagabonds 
as  travel  by  the  hook  or  by  crook  method,  getting  a  lift  in  the 
world  from  every  passer-by — burdocks,  beggar-ticks,  cleavers, 
pitchforks,  Spanish  needles,  and  scores  of  similar  tramps  that  we 
pick  off  our  clothing  after  every  walk  in  autumn — make,  perhaps, 
the  most  successful  travellers  on  the  globe.  The  hound's  tongue's 
four  nutlets,  grouped  in  a  pyramid,  and  with  barbed  spears  as  grap- 
pling-hooks,  imbed  themselves  in  our  garments  until  they  pucker 
the  cloth.  Wool  growers  hurl  anathemas  at  this  whole  tribe  of 
plants. 

A  near  relative,  the  common  Virginia  Stickseed  (Lappula 
Virginiana) — C.  Morisoni  of  Gray — produces  similar  little  barbed 
nutlets,  following  insignificant,  tiny,  palest  blue  or  white  flowers 
up  the  spike.  These  bristling  seeds,  shaped  like  sad-irons,  reflect 
in  their  title  the  ire  of  the  persecuted  man  who  named  them  Beg- 
gar's Lice.  If,  as  Emerson  said,  a  weed  is  a  plant  whose  virtues 
have  not  yet  been  discovered,  the  hound's  tongue,  the  similar 
but  blue-flowered  Wild  Comfrey  (C.  Wrginicum),  next  of  kin,  and 
the  stickseed  are  no  weeds  ;  forages  ago  the  caterpillars  of  certain 
tiger  moths  learned  to  depend  on  their  foliage  as  a  food  store. 


Oswego  Tea;    Bee   Balm;    Indian's    Plume; 
Fragrant    Balm;    Mountain    Mint 

(Monarda  didyma)  Mint  family 

Flowers — Scarlet,  clustered  in  a  solitary,  terminal,  rounded  head  of 
dark-red  calices,  with  leafv  bracts  below  it.     Calyx  narrow, 

25  385 


Red  and  Indefinites 

tubular,  sharply  5-toothed  ;  corolla  tubular,  widest  at  the 
mouth,  2-lipped,  \Yz  to  2  inches  long  ;  2  long,  anther-bear- 
ing stamens  ascending,  protruding;  i  pistil;  the  style  2-cleft. 
Stem:  2  to  3  ft.  tall.  Leaves :  Aromatic,  opposite,  dark  green, 
oval  to  oblong  lance-shaped,  sharply  saw-edged,  often  hairy 
beneath,  petioled  ;  upper  leaves  and  bracts  often  red. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Moist  soil,  especially  near  streams,  in  hilly  or 
mountainous  regions. 

Flowering  Season — July — September. 

Distribution — Canada  to  Georgia,  west  to  Michigan. 

Gorgeous,  glowing  scarlet  heads  of  bee  balm  arrest  the  dullest 
eye,  bracts  and  upper  leaves  often  taking  on  blood-red  color,  too, 
as  if  it  had  dripped  from  the  lacerated  flowers.  Where  their  vivid 
doubles  are  reflected  in  a  shadowy  mountain  stream,  not  even 
the  cardinal  flower  is  more  strikingly  beautiful.  Thrifty  clumps 
transplanted  from  Nature's  garden  will  spread  about  ours  and  add 
a  splendor  like  the  flowers  of  salvia,  next  of  kin,  if  only  the  roots 
get  a  frequent  soaking. 

With  even  longer  flower  tubes  than  the  wild  bergamot's  (see 
p.  144),  the  bee  balm  belies  its  name,  for,  however  frequently 
bees  may  come  about  for  nectar  when  it  rises  high,  only  long- 
tongued  bumblebees  could  get  enough  to  compensate  for  their 
trouble.  Butterflies,  which  suck  with  their  wings  in  motion, 
plumb  the  depths.  The  ruby-throated  humming  bird — to  which 
the  Brazilian  salvia  of  our  gardens  has  adapted  itself — flashes 
about  these  whorls  of  Indian  plumes  just  as  frequently — of  course 
transferring  pollen  on  his  needle-like  bill  as  he  darts  from  flower 
to  flower.  Even  the  protruding  stamens  and  pistil  take  on  the 
prevailing  hue.  Most  of  the  small,  blue  or  purple  flowered  mem- 
bers of  the  mint  family  cater  to  bees  by  wearing  their  favorite 
color  ;  the  bergamot  charms  butterflies  with  magenta,  and  tubes 
so  deep  the  short-tongued  mob  cannot  pilfer  their  sweets  ;  and 
from  the  frequency  of  the  humming  bird's  visits,  from  the  greater 
depth  of  the  bee  balm's  tubes  and  their  brilliant,  flaring  red — an 
irresistibly  attractive  color  to  the  ruby-throat — it  would  appear 
that  this  is  a  bird  flower.  Certainly  its  adaptation  is  quite  as  per- 
fect as  the  salvia's.  Mischievous  bees  and  wasps  steal  nectar 
they  cannot  reach  legitimately  through  bungholes  of  their  own 
making  in  the  bottom  of  the  slender  casks. 

"This  species,"  says  Mr.  Ellwanger,  "is  said  to  give  a  de- 
coction but  little  inferior  to  the  true  tea,  and  was  largely  used  as 
a  substitute  "  by  the  Indians  and  the  colonists,  who  learned  from 
them  how  to  brew  it. 


386 


Red  and  Indefinites 

Scarlet  Painted  Cup;  Indian  Paint-brush 

(Castilleja  Coccined)  Figwort  family 

Fl(nuers — Greenish  yellow,  enclosed  by  broad,  vermilions-cleft  floral 
bracts  ;  borne  in  a  terminal  spike.  Calyx  flattened,  tubular, 
cleft  above  and  below  into  2  lobes  ;  usually  green,  sometimes 
scarlet ;  corolla  very  irregular,  the  upper  lip  long  and  arched, 
the  short  lower  lip  3-lobed  ;  4  unequal  stamens  ;  I  pistil. 
Stem :  i  to  2  ft.  high,  usually  unbranched,  hairy.  Leaves : 
Lower  ones  tufted,  oblong,  mostly  uncut ;  stem  leaves  deeply 
cleft  into  3  to  5  segments,  sessile. 

Preferred  Habitat — Meadows  ;  prairies ;  moist,  sandy  soil ;  thickets. 

Flowering  Season — May — -July. 

Distribution— Maine  to  Manitoba,  south  to  Virginia,  Kansas,  and 
Texas. 

Here  and  there  the  fresh  green  meadows  show  a  touch  of  as 
vivid  a  red  as  that  in  which  Vibert  delighted  to  dip  his  brush. 

"  Scarlet  tufts 

Are  glowing  in  the  green  like  flakes  of  fire  ; 
The  wanderers  of  the  prairie  know  them  well, 
And  call  that  brilliant  flower  the  '  painted  cup.' " 

Thoreau,  who  objected  to  this  name,  thought  flame  flower  a 
better  one,  the  name  the  Indians  gave  to  Oswego  tea  ;  but  here  the 
floral  bracts,  not  the  flowers  themselves,  are  on  fire.  Lacking 
good,  honest,  deep  green,  one  suspects  from  the  yellowish  tone 
of  calices,  stem,  and  leaves  that  this  plant  is  something  of  a  thief. 
That  it  still  possesses  foliage,  proves  only  petty  larceny  against  it, 
similar  to  the  foxglove's  (see  p.  333).  Caterpillars  of  certain 
checker-spot  butterflies  in  turn  prey  upon  Castilleja.  Under  cover 
of  darkness,  in  the  soil  below,  the  roots  of  our  painted  cup  occa- 
sionally break  in  and  steal  from  the  roots  of  its  neighbors  such 
juices  as  the  plant  must  work  over  into  vegetable  tissue.  There- 
fore it  still  needs  leaves,  indispensable  parts  of  a  digestive  ap- 
paratus. Were  it  wholly  given  up  to  piracy,  like  the  dodder,  or  as 
parasitic  as  the  Indian  pipe,  even  the  green  and  the  leaf  that  it 
hath  would  be  taken  away  from  this  slothful  servant. 

But  even  without  honest  leaf  green  (chlorophyll),  we  know 
that  plants  as  low  in  the  scale  as  fungi  often  take  on  the  most 
brilliant  of  yellows  and  reds.  In  the  painted  cup  the  bracts,  which 
enfold  the  insignificant  yellowish  cloistered  flowers  like  a  cape, 
render  them  great  service  in  attracting  the  ruby-throated  humming 
bird  by  donning  his  favorite  color.  No  lip  landing  place  is  pro- 
vided for  insects,  as  in  other  members  of  the  figwort  family  de- 
pendent on  bees ;  although  bumblebees,  which  desire  one,  and 

387 


Red  and  Indefinites 

butterflies,  which  suck  with  their  wings  in  motion,  may  be  rarely 
caught  robbing  the  short  tubes.  Among  the  wild  flowers,  only 
the  columbine,  with  an  almost  parallel  blooming  season,  rivals  the 
painted  cup  for  the  bird's  beneficent  attentions.  The  latter 
flowers  at  about  the  time  the  ruby-throat  flashes  northward  out 
of  the  tropics  to  spend  the  summer.  Professor  Robertson  of 
Illinois  says,  "  In  1886  the  first  humming  bird  seen  was  on  May 
5,  visiting  the  Castilleja."  (Illustration,  p.  392.) 


Wood   Betony;   Lousewort;  Beefsteak  Plant; 
High   Heal-all 

(Pedicularis  Canadensis)  Figwort  family 

Flowers — Greenish  yellow  and  purplish  red,  in  a  short  dense  spike. 
Calyx  oblique,  tubular,  cleft  on  lower  side,  and  with  2  or  3 
scallops  on  upper  ;  corolla  about  Y\  in.  long,  2-lipped,  the 
upper  lip  arched,  concave,  the  lower  3-lobed  ;  4  stamens  in 
pairs  ;  i  pistil.  Stems:  Clustered,  simple,  hairy,  6  to  18  in. 
high.  Leaves  :  Mostly  tufted,  oblong  lance-shaped  in  outline, 
and  pinnately  lobed. 

Preferred  Habitat — Dry,  open  woods  and  thickets. 

Flowering  Season — April — June. 

Distribution — Nova  Scotia  to  Florida,  westward  to  Manitoba, 
Colorado,  and  Kansas. 

When  the  Italians  wish  to  extol  some  one  they  say,  "  He  has 
more  virtues  than  betony,"  alluding,  of  course,  to  the  European 
species,  Belonica  officinalis,  a  plant  that  was  worn  about  the  neck 
and  cultivated  in  cemeteries  during  the  Middle  Ages  as  a  charm 
against  evil  spirits;  and  prepared  into  plasters,  ointments,  syrups, 
and  oils,  was  supposed  to  cure  every  ill  that  flesh  is  heir  to.  Our 
commonest  American  species  fulfils  its  mission  in  beautifying 
roadside  banks  and  dry,  open  woods  and  copses  with  thick,  short 
spikes  of  bright  flowers,  that  rise  above  large  rosettes  of  coarse, 
hairy,  fern-like  foliage.  At  first,  these  flowers,  beloved  of  bumble- 
bees, are  all  greenish  yellow  ;  but  as  the  spike  lengthens  with 
increased  bloom,  the  arched,  upper  lip  of  the  blossom  becomes 
dark  purplish  red,  the  lower  one  remains  pale  yellow,  and  the 
throat  turns  reddish,  while  some  of  the  beefsteak  color  often 
creeps  into  stems  and  leaves  as  well. 

Farmers  once  believed  that  after  their  sheep  fed  on  the  foliage 
of  this  group  of  plants  a  skin  disease,  produced  by  a  certain  tiny 
louse  (pediculus),  would  attack  them — hence  our  innocent  bet- 
ony's  repellent  name. 

388 


Red  and  Indefinites 


Beech-drops 

(Septamnium  Virginianuni)  Broom-rape  family 
(Epifegus  Virginiana  of  Gray) 

Flowers — Small,  dull  purple  and  white,  tawny,  or  brownish 
striped;  scattered  along  loose,  tiny  bracted,  ascending 
branches.  Stem:  Brownish  or  reddish  tinged,  slender,  tough, 
branching  above,  6  in.  to  2  ft.  tall,  from  brittle,  fibrous  roots. 

Preferred  Habitat — Under  beech,  oak,  and  chestnut  trees. 

Flowering  Season — August — October. 

Distribution — New  Brunswick,  westward  to  Ontario  and  Missouri, 
south  to  the  Gulf  States. 

Nearly  related  to  the  broom-rape  is  this  less  attractive  pirate, 
a  taller,  brownish-purple  plant,  with  a  disagreeable  odor,  whose 
erect,  branching  stem  without  leaves  is  still  furnished  with 
brownish  scales,  the  remains  of  what  were  once  green  leaves  in 
virtuous  ancestors,  no  doubt.  But  perhaps  even  these  relics  of 
honesty  may  one  day  disappear.  Nature  brands  every  sinner 
somehow;  and  the  loss  of  green  from  a  plant's  leaves  may  be 
taken  as  a  certain  indication  that  theft  of  another's  food  stamps  it 
with  this  outward  and  visible  sign  of  guilt.  The  grains  of  green 
to  which  foliage  owes  its  color  are  among  the  most  essential  of 
products  to  honest  vegetables  that  have  to  grub  in  the  soil  for  a 
living,  since  it  is  only  in  such  cells  as  contain  it  that  assimilation  of 
food  can  take  place.  As  chlorophyll,  or  leaf-green,  acts  only  under 
the  influence  of  light  and  air,  most  plants  expose  all  the  leaf  sur- 
face possible;  but  a  parasite,  which  absorbs  from  others  juices 
already  assimilated,  certainly  has  no  use  for  chlorophyll,  nor  for 
leaves  either;  and  in  the  broom-rape,  beech-drops,  and  Indian 
pipe,  among  other  thieves,  we  see  leaves  degenerated  into  bracts 
more  or  less  without  color,  according  to  the  extent  of  their  crime. 
Now  they  cannot  manufacture  carbo-hydrates,  even  if  they  would, 
any  more  than  fungi  can. 

On  the  beech-drop's  slender  branches  two  kinds  of  flowers 
are  seated  :  below  are  the  minute  fertile  ones,  which  never  open, 
but,  without  imported  pollen,  ripen  an  abundance  of  seed  with 
literally  the  closest  economy.  Nevertheless,  to  save  the  species 
from  still  deeper  degeneracy  through  perpetual  self-fertilization, 
small  purplish-striped  flowers  above  them  mature  stigmas  and 
anthers  on  different  days,  and  invite  insect  visits  to  help  them  pro- 
duce a  few  cross-fertilized  seeds.  Even  a  few  will  save  it.  Every 
plant  which  bears  cleistogamous  or  blind  flowers — violets,  wood- 
sorrel,  jewel-weed,  among  others — must  also  display  some  showy 
ones. 

389 


Red  and  Indefinites 


Trumpet-flower;  Trumpet-creeper 

(Tecoma  radicans)  Trumpet-creeper  family 

flowers — Red  and  veined  within,  paler  and  inclined  toward  tawny 
without,  trumpet-shaped,  about  2%  in.  long,  the  limb  with  5 
rounded  lobes  ;  2  to  9  flowers  in  the  terminal  clusters  ; 
anther-bearing  stamens  4,  in  pairs,  under  upper  part  of  tube  ; 
i  pistil.  Stem :  A  woody  vine  20  to  40  ft.  long,  prostrate  or 
climbing.  Leaves:  Opposite,  pinnately  compounded  of  7 
to  1 1  ovate,  saw-edged  leaflets. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Moist,  rich  woods  and  thickets. 

Flowering  Season — August — September. 

Distribution — New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  westward  to  Illinois, 
and  south  to  the  Gulf  States.  Occasionally  escaped  from 
gardens  farther  north. 

From  early  May  until  the  middle  of  October,  the  ruby-throated 
humming  bird  forsakes  the  tropics  to  spend  the  flowery  months 
with  us.  Which  wild  flowers  undertake  to  feed  him  ?  Years 
before  showy  flowers  were  brought  from  all  corners  of  the  earth 
to  adorn  our  gardens,  about  half  a  dozen  natives  in  that  parterre  of 
Nature's  east  of  the  Mississippi  catered  to  him  in  orderly  succession. 
In  feasting  at  their  board  he  could  not  choose  but  reciprocate  the 
favor  by  transferring  their  pollen  as  they  took  pains  to  arrange 
matters.  Nectar  and  tiny  insects  he  is  ever  seeking.  Of  course 
hundreds  of  flowers  secrete  nectar  which  taxes  them  little  ;  and 
while  the  vast  majority  of  these  are  avowedly  adapted  to  insect 
benefactors,  what  is  to  prevent  the  bird's  needle-like  bill  from 
probing  the  sweets  from  most  of  them  ?  Certain  flowers  depend- 
ent on  him,  finding  that  the  mere  offering  of  nectar  was  not 
enough  to  insure  his  fidelity,  that  he  was  constantly  lured  away, 
had  to  offer  some  especially  strong  attractions  to  make  his  regular 
visits  sure.  How  did  these  learn  that  red  is  irresistibly  fascinating 
to  him,  and  orange  scarcely  less  so,  perhaps  for  the  sake  of  the 
red  that  is  mixed  with  the  yellow  ?  To-day  we  find  such  flowers 
as  need  him  sorely,  wearing  his  favorite  colors.  But  even  this 
delicate  attention  is  not  enough.  He  demands  that  his  refresh- 
ments shall  be  reserved  for  him  in  a  tube  so  deep  or  inaccessible 
that,  when  he  calls,  he  will  find  all  he  desires,  notwithstanding 
the  occasional  intrusion  of  such  long-tongued  insects  as  bumble- 
bees, butterflies,  and  moths.  First  the  long-spurred  red  and 
yellow  columbine  and  the  painted  cup,  then  the  coral  honey- 
suckle, jewel-weed,  trumpet-creeper,  Oswego  tea,  and  cardinal 
flower  have  the  honor  of  catering  to  the  exacting  little  sprite 
from  spring  to  autumn.  His  sojourn  in  our  gardens  is  prolpnged 

390 


Red  and  Indefinites 

until  his  beloved  gladioli,  cannas,  honeysuckles,  nasturtiums,  and 
salvia  succumb  to  frost. 

Where  a  trumpet  vine  climbs  with  the  help  of  its  aerial  roots, 
like  an  ivy's,  and  sends  forth  clusters  of  brilliant  tubes  at  the  tips 
of  long,  wiry  branches,  there  one  is  sure  to  see,  sooner  or  later, 
the  ruby-throat  flashing,  whirring,  darting  from  flower  to  flower. 
Eight  birds  at  once  were  counted  about  a  vine  one  sunny  morn- 
ing. The  next,  a  pair  of  tame  pigeons  walked  over  the  roof  of 
the  summer-house  where  the  creeper  grew  luxuriantly,  and  punc- 
tured, with  a  pop  that  was  distinctly  heard  fifty  feet  away,  the  base 
of  every  newly  opened  nectar-filled  trumpet  on  it  !  That  after- 
noon all  the  corollas  discolored,  and  no  hummers  came  near. 


Coral  or  Trumpet  Honeysuckle 

(Lonicera  sempervirens)  Honeysuckle  family 

Flowers — Red  outside,  orange  yellow  within  ;  whorled  round  ter- 
minal spikes.  Calyx  insignificant  ;  corolla  tubular,  slender, 
\Yz  in.  long  or  less,  slightly  spread  below  the  5-lobed  limb  ; 
5  stamens  ;  i  pistil.  Stem :  A  high,  twining  vine.  Leaves : 
Evergreen  in  the  South  only  ;  opposite,  rounded  oval,  dark, 
shining  green  above,  the  upper  leaves  united  around  the  stem 
by  their  bases  to  form  a  cup.  Fruit:  An  interrupted  spike 
of  deep  orange-red  berries. 

Preferred  Habitat — Rich,  light,  warm  soil  ;  hillsides,  thickets. 

flowering  Season — April — September. 

Distribution — Connecticut,  westward  to  Nebraska,  and  south  to 
the  Gulf  States.  Occasionally  escaped  from  cultivation 
farther  north. 

Small-flowered  bush  honeysuckles  elected  to  serve  and  be 
served  by  bees  ;  those  with  longer  tubes  welcomed  bumblebees  ; 
the  white  and  yellow  flowered  twining  honeysuckles,  deep  of 
tube  and  deliciously  fragrant,  especially  after  dark,  when  they  are 
still  visible,  cater  to  the  sphinx  moths  (see  pp.  337-340)  ;  but 
surely  the  longest-tongued  bumblebee  could  not  plumb  the  depths 
of  this  slender-tubed  trumpet  honeysuckle,  nor  the  night-flying 
moth  discover  a  flower  that  has  melted  into  the  prevailing  dark- 
ness when  he  begins  his  rounds,  and  takes  no  pains  to  guide  him 
with  perfume.  What  creature,  then,  does  it  cater  to?  After 
reading  of  the  aims  of  the  trumpet-flower  on  the  preceding  page, 
no  one  will  be  surprised  to  hear  that  the  ruby-throated  humming 
bird's  visits  are  responsible  for  most  of  the  berries  that  follow 
these  charming,  generous,  abundant  flowers,  so  eminently  to  his 
liking.  Larger  migrants  than  he,  in  search  of  fare  so  attractive, 

391 


Red  and  Indefinites 

distribute  the  seeds  far  and  wide.     Is  any  other  species  more 
wholly  dependent  on  birds  ? 


Cardinal  Flower;   Red   Lobelia 

(Lobelia  cardinalis) 

Flowers — Rich  vermilion,  very  rarely  rose  or  white,  I  to  1/4  in. 
long,  numerous,  growing  in  terminal,  erect,  green-bracted, 
more  or  less  i -sided  racemes.  Calyx  5-cleft  ;  corolla  tubular, 
split  down  one  side,  2-lipped  ;  the  lower  lip  with  3  spreading 
lobes,  the  upper  lip  2-lobed,  erect ;  5  stamens  united  into  a 
tube  around  the  style  ;  2  anthers  with  hairy  tufts.  Stem  : 
2  to 4^2  ft.  high,  rarely  branched.  Leaves:  Oblong  to  lance- 
shaped,  slightly  toothed,  mostly  sessile. 

Preferred  Habitat—  Wet  or  low  ground,  beside  streams,  ditches, 
and  meadow  runnels. 

Flowering  Season — J uly — September. 

Distribution — New  Brunswick  to  the  Gulf  States,  westward  to  the 
Northwest  Territory  and  Kansas. 

By  the  depth  and  brilliancy  of  its  incomparable  hue,  the 
shade  with  which  Vibert  delighted  to  illumine  his  rich  canvases, 
the  color  of  the  famous  hat  worn  by  seventy  ecclesiastical  princes 
of  the  Roman  Church,  but  a  richer  red  than  the  bird  which  shares 
the  name  can  boast,  the  cardinal  flower  proclaims  its  title  to  all 
beholders.  Because  its  vivid  beauty  cannot  be  hid,  and  few  with- 
stand the  temptation  to  pick  it,  its  extermination  goes  on  as  rapidly 
as  its  bird  namesake's. 

"  Hast  thou  named  all  the  birds  without  a  gun  ? 
Loved  the  wood  rose  and  left  it  on  its  stalk  ?  " 

The  easy  cultivation  from  seed  of  this  peerless  wild  flower — 
and  it  is  offered  in  many  trade  catalogues — might  save  it  to  those 
regions  in  Nature's  wide  garden  that  now  know  it  no  more.  The 
ranks  of  floral  missionaries  need  recruits. 

Curious  that  the  great  blue  lobelia  should  be  the  cardinal 
flower's  twin  sister  !  Why  this  difference  of  color  ?  Sir  John 
Lubbock  proved  by  tireless  experiment  that  the  bees'  favorite  color 
is  blue,  and  the  shorter-tubed  blue  lobelia  elected  to  woo  them  as 
her  benefactors.  Whoever  has  made  a  study  of  the  ruby-throated 
humming  bird's  habits  must  have  noticed  how  red  flowers  entice 
him — columbines,  painted  cups,  coral  honeysuckle,  Oswego  tea, 
trumpet  flower,  and  cardinal  in  Nature's  garden  ;  cannas,  salvia, 
gladioli,  pelargoniums,  fuchsias,  phloxes,  verbenas,  and  nastur- 
tiums among  others  in  ours.  How  the  cardinal  flower's  wonder- 

392 


11 

21 

o 


Red  and  Indefinites 

ful  mechanism  works  to  utilize  his  visits  has  already  been  told  on 
p.  68,  in  the  description  of  the  blue  lobelia  of  similar  construction. 
But  with  a  bird  so  much  greater  than  the  ruby-throat  that  the 
jewelled-feathered  atom  could  be  concealed  under  one  of  its  talons 
is  the  red  lobelia  forever  associated  : 

"  The  cardinal,  and  the  blood-red  spots, 

Its  double  in  the  stream  ; 
As  if  some  wounded  eagle's  breast, 

Slow  throbbing  o'er  the  plain, 
Had  left  its  airy  path  impressed 

In  drops  of  scarlet  rain." 


393 


FRAGRANT    FLOWERS    OR    LEAVES 


Baby's  Breath,  7. 

Large  Purple-fringed  Orchis,  12. 

Smaller  Purple-fringed  Orchis,  13. 

Hepatica  (occasionally),  17. 

Purple  Marsh  Clematis,  ig. 

English  Violet,  30. 

Wild  Phlox,  35. 

Catnip,  45. 

Pennyroyal,  47. 

Wild  Thyme,  48. 

Peppermint,  49. 

Spear  Mint,  49. 

Wild  Mint,  50. 

Dittany,  50. 

Pasture  Thistle,  77. 

Pink  Moccasin  Flower,  8 1. 

Showy  Orchis,  83. 

Rose  Pogonia,  84. 

Arethusa,  85. 

Calopogon,  86. 

Night-flowering  Catchfly,  93. 

Bouncing  Bet,  93. 

Purple-flowering  Raspberry,  96. 

Queen-of-the-Prairie,  97. 

Wild  Rose,  99. 

Red  Clover,  101. 

Musk  Mallow,  114. 

Prince's  Pine,  120. 

Bog  Wintergreen,  120. 

Pink  Azalea,  121. 

White  Azalea,  122. 

Trailing  Arbutus,  127. 

Sabbatia,  131. 

Fly-trap  Dogbane,  133. 

Four-leaved  Milkweed,  139. 

Field  Bindweed,  140. 

Wild  Bergamot,  144. 


Twin-flower,  147. 

Joe-Pye  Weed  (slightly),  148. 

Wild  Spikenard  (slightly),  159. 

White-fringed  Orchis,  165. 

Ladies'  Tresses,  166,  167. 

Lizard's  Tail,  169. 

Bladder  Campion,  171. 

White  Water  Lily,  173. 

Laurel  Magnolia,  176. 

Squirrel  Corn,  188. 

White  Sweet  Clover,  208. 

Wild  Grape,  217. 

Sweet  White  Violet,  218. 

Canada  Violet,  218. 

Sweet-Cicely,  223. 

Sweet  Pepperbush,  230. 

Pyrola,  231. 

Shin-leaf,  232. 

Wintergreen,  237. 

Button-bush,  251. 

Partridge  Vine,  252. 

Elder,  254. 

Clammy  Everlasting,  266. 

Bellwort,  275. 

Adder's  Tongue,  279. 

Small  Yellow  Lady's  Slipper,  286. 

Spice-bush,  297. 

Yellow  Sweet  Clover,  310. 

Yellow  Wood-sorrel,  311. 

Evening  Primrose,  321. 

Horse-balm,  327. 

Horned  Bladderwort,  336. 

Honeysuckles,  337,  338. 

Fragrant  Golden-rod,  351. 

Ground-nut,  381. 

Pine  Sap,  382. 

Oswego  Tea,  385. 


UNPLEASANTLY    SCENTED 


Purple  Trillium,  7. 
Black  Cohosh,  179. 
Mandrake,  184. 
Jamestown  Weed,  248. 
Salt-marsh  Fleabane,  265. 
Camomile,  269. 


Carrion-flower,  282. 
Barberry,  295. 
Skunk  Cabbage,  369. 
Hound's  Tongue,  384. 
Beech-drops,  389. 


395 


Plant  Families  Represented 

PLANTS    AND    SHRUBS    CONSPICUOUS    IN 
FRUIT 


Red  and  Reddish 

Nightshade,  50. 

Twisted-stalk,  81. 

American  Cranberry,  129. 

Marsh  Calla,  155. 

Wild  Spikenard  (pale  red  speckled  ber- 
ries), 159. 

Two-leaved  Solomon's  Seal  (pale  red 
speckled),  160. 

Wake-robins,  162,  163. 

Red  Baneberry,  178. 

Red  Raspberry,  199. 

Strawberries,  202,  203. 

Red  Choke-berry,  205. 

June-berry,  205. 

Shad-bush,  206. 

Hawthorns,  207,  208. 

Harmless  Sumacs,  211,  212. 

Hollies,  213. 

Bittersweet,  214. 

Winterberry  (Black  Alder),  214. 

American  Spikenard,  220. 

Flowering  Dogwood,  227. 

Dwarf  Cornel,  or  Bunchberry,  227. 

Wintergreen,£37. 

Red  Bearberrf,  238. 

Partridge  Vine,  252. 

Hobble-bush,  256. 

Red-berried  Elder,  256. 

High  Bush  Cranberry,  257. 

Barberry,  295. 

Spice-bush,  297. 

Ground  Cherry,  329. 

Wild  Honeysuckles,  337-340. 

Jack-in-the-Pulpit,  367. 

Bluish  and  Black 

Deadly  Nightshade,  51. 
Star-flowered  Solomon's  Seal,  160. 


True  Solomon's  Seal,  161. 
Large-flowered  Wake-robin,  163. 
Black  Raspberry,  200. 
Bush  Blackberry,  200. 
Dewbeny,  201. 
Black  Choke-berry,  205. 
Wild  Grapes,  216,  217. 
Virginia  Creeper,  217. 
Cornels,  228. 
Pokeweed,  229. 
Huckleberry,  239. 
Blueberries,  240. 
Elder,  254. 
Arrow-woods,  258. 
Viburnums,  259. 
Nanny-berry,  259. 
Blackberry  Lily,  284. 


White 

White  Baneberry  (black  eye),  178. 
Poison  Sumac,  212. 
Poison  Ivy,  212. 
PanScled  Dogwood,  229. 
Snowberry,  241. 


Fluffy 

Thistles,  76. 

Virginia  Clematis,  181. 

Milkweeds,  135,  244,  325. 

White  lettuce  (cinnamon),  260. 

Groundsel-bush,  265. 

Spring  Everlasting,  267. 

Dandelions,  340-344. 

Sow-thistle,  344. 

Lettuces,  345. 

Hawkweeds  (brown),  347,  348. 


PLANT    FAMILIES    REPRESENTED 


Water-plantain  Family 

(A  lismaceae) 

Water-plantain.     Arrow-head. 

Arum   Family     (Araceae) 

Jack-in-the-pulpit.        Green     dragon. 
Arrow-arum.    Water-arum.    Skunk  cab- 
bage.    Golden-club.     Calamus-root. 

Splderwort  Family 

(Commelinaceae) 

Day-flowers.      Spiderwort.      Wander- 
ing  Jew. 

Pickerel-weed  Family 

(Pontederiaceae) 

Pickerel-weed. 

396 


Plant  Families  Represented 


Bunch-flower  Family 

{Melanthaceae) 
White  hellebore.     Bellworts. 

Lily  Family  (Liliaceae) 

Lilies.  Adder's  tongue.  Hyacinths. 
Star-of- Bethlehem.  Colic-root. 

Llly-of-the-valley  Family 

( Convallariaceae) 

Clintonia.  Wild  spikenard.  Solo- 
mon's seals.  False  lily-of-the-valley. 
Twisted-stalks.  Indian  cucumber-root. 
Wake-robins.  Carrion-flower.  Cat- 
brier. 

Amaryllis  Family  (Amaryllidaceae) 
Yellow  star-grass. 


Iris  Family  (Iridaceae) 


Irises.       Blackberry   lily, 
grass. 


Blue-eyed 


Orchid  Family  (Orchidaceae) 

Ladies'  slippers.  Orchises.  Rose  po- 
gonia.  Arethusa.  Ladies'  tresses.  Rat- 
tlesnake plantains.  Twayblades.  Ca- 
lypso. Coral-roots.  Calopogon.  Adam 
and  Eve. 

Llzard's-tall  Family 

{Saururaceae) 
Lizard's-tail. 


Blrthwort  Family 

(A  rislolochiaceae) 
Wild  ginger.    Dutchman's  pipe, 
pentary. 


Ser- 


Buckwheat  Family 

{Polygonaceae) 

Persicarias.  Smartweed.  Water  pep- 
per. Lady's  thumb.  Pink  knotweed. 
Climbing  false  buckwheat.  Tear-thumb. 
Coast  jointweed. 

Pokeweed  Family 

(Phytolaccaceae) 
Pokeweed. 

Purslane   Family  (Portulacaceae) 
Spring  beauty.     Pussley.     Portulaca. 


Pink  Family  (Caryophyllaceae) 

Corn  cockle.  Campions.  Catchflies. 
Pinks.  Bouncing  Bet.  Chickweed. 

Water-lily  Family  (Nymphaeaceae) 
Water-shield.     Pond-lilies.     Lotus. 

Magnolia  Family  (Magnoliaceae) 
Laurel  magnolia. 

Crowfoot  Family  (Ranuncttlaceae) 

Marsh-marigold.  Gold-thread.  Bane- 
berries.  Black  Cohosh.  Columbines. 
Larkspurs.  Anemones.  Hepatica.  Vir- 
gin's bower.  Clematis.  Water-crow- 
foots. Spearworts.  Buttercups.  Mead- 
ow-rues. 

Barberry  Family  (Berberidaceae) 

Barberries.  Twin-leaf.  Wild  man- 
drake. 

Laurel  Family  (Lauraceae) 
Spice-bush. 

Poppy  Family  (Papaveraceae) 

Bloodroot.  Celandine  poppies.  Cali- 
fornia poppy.  Dutchman's  breeches. 
Squirrel  corn.  Bleeding-heart.  Climb- 
ing fumitory.  Pink  and  Golden  cory- 
dalis. 

Mustard  Family  (Crudferae) 

Mustards.  Charlock.  Cresses. 
Rocket.  Radish.  Ladies'  smock. 
Toothworts.  Shepherd's  purse.  Ver- 
nal whitlow  grass. 

Pitcher-plant  Family 

(Sarracfttiaceaf) 

Pitcher-plant.     Sundew. 

Orpine  Family  (Crassulaceae) 
Live-forever. 

Saxifrage  Family  (Saxifragaceae) 

Early  saxifrage.  Foam-flower.  M5- 
trewort.  Grass-of-Parnassus.  Hydran- 
gea. 

Witch-hazel  Family 
(Hamamelidaceae) 

Witch-hazel. 


397 


Plant  Families  Represented 


Rose  Family  (Rosaceae) 

Ninebark.  Meadow-sweet.  Steeple- 
bush.  Goat's  beard.  Indian  physic. 
Ipecac.  Raspberries.  Blackberries. 
Dalibarda.  Strawberries.  Cinquefoils. 
Avens.  Queen-of-the-prairie.  A  g  r  i  - 
mony.  Roses. 

Apple  Family  (Pomaceae) 

Chokeberries.  June-berry.  Shad- 
bush.  Hawthorns. 

Senna  Family  (Caesalpinaceae) 

Sensitive  pea.  Partridge  pea.  Wild 
senna. 

Pea  Family  (Papilionaceae) 

Wild  indigo.  Rattle-box.  Wild  lu- 
pine. Clovers.  Sweet  clovers.  Goat's 
rue.  Tick-trefoils.  Bush-clovers.  Blue 
vetches.  Pea  vine.  Seaside  pea.  But- 
terfly-pea. Hog  peanut.  Milk-pea. 
Wild  bean. 

Geranium  Family  (Geraniaceae) 

Wild  geranium.  Herb  Robert. 
Cranesbill. 

Wood-sorrel  Family  (Oxalidaceae) 
Wood-sorrels. 

Flax  Family  (Linaceae) 
Flax.  Slender  yellow  and  Ridged  flax. 

Mllkwort  Family  (Polygalaccae) 
Milkworts.     Fringed  polygala. 

Spurge  Family  (Euphorbiaceae) 
Flowering  spurge. 

Sumac  Family  (Anacardiaceae) 
Sumacs.     Poison  ivy.     Smoke  bush. 

Holly  Family  (IKcaceae) 
Hollies.     Winter-berry  (black  alder). 

Staff-tree  Family  (Celastraceae) 
Climbing  bitter-sweet. 
Jewel-weed  Family  (Balsaminaccae) 
Jewel-weed.     Pale  touch-me-not. 


Buckthorn  Family  (Rhamnaceae) 
New  Jersey  tea. 

Grape  Family  (Vitaceae) 

Wild  grapes.  Virginia  creeper.  Am- 
pelopsis. 

Mallow  Family  (Malvaceae) 
Mallows.     Velvet  leaf.     Althaea. 

St.  John's-wort  Family 

(Ilypericaceae) 

St.  Peter's-wort.  St.  Andrew's  cross. 
St.  John's-worts. 

Rock-rose  Family  (Cistaceae) 
Frost-flowers.     Poverty  grass. 

Violet  Family  (Violaceae) 
Violets.     Pansies. 

Cactus  Family  (Cactaceae) 
Prickly  pears. 

Loosestrife  Family  (Lythraceae) 
Purple  loosestrife.     Blue  wax-weed. 

Meadow-beauty  Family 

(Melastomaceac) 

Meadow-beauty.     Deer-grass. 

Evening-primrose  Family 

(Onagraceae) 

Fire-weed.  Willow-herbs.  Evening- 
primrose.  Sundrops.  Enchanter's  night- 
shade. 

Ginseng  Family  (Araliaceae) 

American  spikenard.  Wild  sarsapa- 
rilla.  Ginsengs. 

Carrot  Family  (Umbelliferae) 

Wild  carrot.  Cowbane.  Parsnips. 
Parsley.  Sanicle.  Fennel.  Pimpernel. 
Water-hemlock.  Sweet-Cicely.  Poison 
hemlock.  Water-parsnip. 

Dogwood  Family  (Cornaccae) 
Cornels  or  Dogwoods. 

White-alder  Family  (Clethraceae) 
Sweet  pepperbush. 


398 


Plant  Families  Represented 


Wintergreen  Family  (Pyrolaceae) 

Wintergreens.  Shin-leaf.  Prince's 
pine. 

Indian-pipe  Family 

(Monotropaceae) 

Indian-pipe.     Pine  sap. 

Heath  Family  (Ericaceae) 

Labrador  tea.  Azaleas.  Laurels. 
Rhodora.  Rhododendrons.  Leucothoe. 
Wild  rosemary.  Fetter-bush.  Stagger- 
bush.  Andromeda.  Cassandra.  Sour- 
wood.  Trailing  arbutus.  Creeping 
wintergreen.  Bearberries. 

Huckleberry  Family 

( Vacciniaceae) 

Huckleberries.  Blueberries.  Squaw 
huckleberry.  Creeping  snowberry.  Cran- 
berry. 

DIapensia  Family  (Diapensiaceae) 
Pyxie. 
Primrose  Family  (Primulaceae) 

Loosestrifes.  Moneywort.  Star-flower. 
Scarlet  pimpernel.  Shooting  star. 

Plumbago  Family 

(Plum  bag  inaceae) 

Marsh  rosemary. 

Gentian  Family  (Gentianaceae) 

Sabbatia.  Sea-pink.  Marsh  pink. 
Gentians. 

Dogbane  Family  (Apocynaceae) 
Dogbane.     Indian  hemp. 

Milkweed  Family 

(A  sclepiadaceae) 

Milkweeds.     Butterfly  weed. 

Morning-glory  Family 

( Convolvulaceae) 

Wild  potato  vine.     Bindweeds. 

Dodder  Family  (Cascutaceae) 
Gronovius'  dodder. 


Phlox  Family  (Pokmoniaceae) 
Phloxes.     Moss  pink. 


Water-leaf  Family 

(Ifydrophyllaceae) 
Virginia  water-leaf. 

Borage  Family  (Boraginaceae) 

Hound's  tongue.  Comfrey.  Stick- 
seeds.  Virginia  cowslip.  Lungwort. 
Forget-me-nots.  Viper's  bugloss.  Ver- 
vains. Verbena. 

Mint  Family  (Labiatae) 

Blue  curls.  Skullcaps.  Catnip.  Gill- 
over-the-ground.  Self-heal.  Obedient 
plant.  Motherwort.  Oswego  tea.  Wild 
bergamot.  Pennyroyal.  Sweet  basil. 
Hyssop.  Mints.  Wild  thyme.  Dit- 
tany. Peppermint.  Citronella. 

Potato  Family  (Solanaceae) 

Ground  cherry.  Nightshades.  Thorn 
apples.  (Jamestown  weed.) 

Figwort  Family  (Scrophulariaceae) 

Mulleins.  Butter-and-eggs.  Blue  toad- 
flax. Figwort.  Turtle-head.  Beard 
tongues.  Blue-eyed  Mary.  Monkey- 
flower.  Speedwells.  Brooklime.  Cul- 
ver's-root.  False  foxgloves.  Gerardias. 
Scarlet  painted  cup.  Wood  betony. 

Bladderwort  Family 

(Lentibulariaceae) 

Bladderworts. 

Broom-rape   Family 

(Orobanchaceae) 
Broom-rape.     Beech-drops. 

Trumpet-creeper  Family 

( Bignon  iaceae) 
Trumpet-flower. 

Acanthus  Family  (Acanthaceae) 
Hairy  ruellia. 

Madder  Family  (Rubiaceae) 

Bluets.  Button-bush.  Partridge-vine. 
Cleavers.  Bedstraw. 

Honeysuckle  Family 
(  Caprifoliaceae) 

Elder  bushes.  Hobble-bush.  Bush 
cranberry.  Arrow-woods.  Withe-rod. 
Sweet  viburnum.  Black  haw.  Twin- 
flower.  Snowberry.  Honeysuckles.  Fly- 
honeysuckles.  Bush-honeysuckles. 


399 


Plant  Families  Represented 


Teasel  Family  (Difsacaceae) 
Card  teasel. 

Gourd  Family  (Cucurbitaceae) 
Star-cucumber. 

Bell-flower  Family 

( Campanulaceae) 

Harebell.  Bellflowers.  Venus'  look- 
ing-glass. Cardinal  flower.  Lobelias. 
Indian  tobacco. 

Chicory  Family  (Cichoriaceae) 

Chicory.  Cynthia.  Dwarf  goat's 
beard.  Fall  dandelion.  Dandelions. 


Sow-thistles.  Wild  lettuces.  Hawk- 
weeds.  Rattlesnake-weed.  White  let- 
tuce. 

Thistle  Family  {Compositae) 

Iron-weed.  Joe-Pye  weed.  Boneset 
or  Thoroughwort.  White  sanicle. 
Climbing  hempweed.  Blazing-star.  But- 
ton snake-root.  Golden  aster.  Golden- 
rods.  Asters.  Robin's  plantain.  Flea- 
banes.  Sweet  scabious.  Groundsel- 
bush.  Everlastings.  Elecampane.  Cup- 
plant.  Compass-plant.  Ox-eyes.  Cone- 
flowers.  Black-eyed  Susan.  Sunflowers. 
Jerusalem  artichoke.  Tlckseeds.  Bur- 
marigolds.  Beggar-ticks.  Sneezeweed. 
Yarrow.  Camomiles.  Daisy.  Tansy. 
Ragwort.  Burdock.  Thistles. 


400 


INDEX   OF   SCIENTIFIC   NAMES 


Abutilon  Abutilon,  314. 

Avicennae,  314. 
Acbillea  Millcfolium,  268. 
Actaea  alba,  178. 

rubra,  178. 

Adlumia  fungosa,  188. 
Adopogon  Carolinianum,  343. 

Virginicum,  343. 
AEthusa  Cynapium,  225. 
Agrimonia  Eupatoria,  306. 

hirsuta,  306. 

Agrostemma  Githago,  90. 
Aletris  farinosa,  159. 
Alisma  Plantago-aquatica,  153. 
Alsine  longifolia,  173. 

media,  172. 

Althaea  officinalis,  113. 
Amelanchier  Botryapium,  206. 

Canadensis,  205. 
Ampelopsis  quinquefolia,  218. 
Amphicarpaea  monoica,  27. 
Anagallis  arvensis,  383. 
Anaphalis  margaritacea,  266. 
Andromeda  Polifolia,  235. 
Anemone  Virginiana,  181. 
Antennaria  margaritacea,  266. 

plantaginifolia,  267. 
Anthemis  arvensis,  269. 

Cotula,  269. 

Aphyllon  uniflorum,  60. 
Apios  Apios,  381. 

tuberosa,  381. 
Aplectrum  hyemale,  373. 

spicatum,  373. 
Apocynum  androsaemifolium,  133. 

cannabium,  243. 
Aquilegia  Canadensis,  377. 

coerulea,  15. 

vulgaris,  15. 
Arabis  hirsuta,  192. 
Aralia  nudicaulis,  220. 

quinquefolia,  221. 

trifolia,  221. 
Arctium  Lappa,  150. 

minus,  149. 

Arctostaphylos  Uva-Ursi,  238. 
Arethusa  bulbosa,  85. 
Arisaema  triphyllum,  367. 

Dracontium,  369. 

26 


Aristolochia  macrophylla  (Sipho),  375. 

Serpentaria,  376. 
Aronia  arbutifolia,  205. 

nigra,  205. 

Aruncus  Aruncus,  198. 
Asarum  Canadense,  373. 
Asclepias  cornuti,  135. 

exaltata,  139. 

incarnata,  138. 

phytolaecoides,  139. 

pulchra,  138. 

purpurascens,  138. 

quadrifolia,  139. 

Syriaca,  135. 

tuberosa,  325. 

verticillata,  244. 
Ascyrum  Crux-Andreae,  315. 

hypericoides,  315. 

stans,  315. 
Aster  azureus,  73. 

cordifolius,  73. 

corymbosus,  263. 

divaricatus,  263. 

ericoides,  263. 

laevis,  74. 

macrophyllus,  73. 

multiflorus,  264. 

nemoralis,  75. 

Novse-Angliae,  74. 

paniculatus,  263. 

patens,  74. 

ptarmicoides,  263. 

puniceus,  74. 

spectabilis,  75. 

undulatus,  74. 
Atragene  Americana,  19. 
Azalea  nudiflora,  121. 

viscosa,  122. 


B 


Baccharis  halimifolia,  265. 
Baptisia  tinctoria,  309. 
Barbarea  Barbarea,  302. 

vulgaris,  302. 

Batrachium  trichophyllum,  295. 
Bellis  perennis,  270. 
Benzoin  Benzoin,  297. 
BerberSs  Canadensis,  297. 

vulgaris,  295. 
Bicuculla  Canadensis,  188. 


401 


Index  of  Scientific  Names 


Bicuculla  Cucullaria,  187. 

eximia,  188. 
Bidens  chrysanthemoides,  360. 

frondosa,  361. 

laevis,  360. 
Brasenia  peltata,  14. 

purpurea,  14. 
Brassica  arvensis,  301. 

nigra,  300. 
Bursa  Bursa-pastoris,  191. 


Calla  palustris,  155. 
Calopogon  pulchellus,  86. 
Caltha  palustris,  291. 
Calystegia  sepium,  139. 
Campanula  Americana,  66. 

rapunculoides,  65. 

rotundifolia,  64. 
Capnoides  aureum,  300. 

sempervirens,  95. 
Capsella  Bursa-pastoris,  191. 
Cardamine  bulbosa,  188. 

pratensis,  189. 

purpurea,  189. 

rhomboidea,  188. 
Cassia  Chamaecrista,  307. 

Marylandica,  308. 

nicitans,  307. 
Castalia  odorata,  173. 
Castilleja  Coccinea,  387. 
Celastrus  scandens,  214. 
Cephalanthus  occidentalis,  251. 
Centaurea  Cyanus,  268. 
Chamaedaphne  calyculata,  237. 
Chamaenerion  angustifolium,  118. 
Chelidonium  majus,  298. 
Chelone  glabra,  145. 
Chimaphila  maculata,  1 2 1. 

umbellata,  120. 
Chiogenes  hispidula,  241. 
Chrysanthemum  Leucanthemum,  270. 
Chrysopsis  Mariana,  348. 

villosa,  348. 
Cichorium  Intybus,  69. 
Cicuta  maculata,  225. 
Cimicifuga  racemosa,  179. 
Circaea  Lutetiana,  219. 
Claytonia  Virginica,  170. 
Clematis  crispa,  19. 

Viorna,  19. 

Virginiana,  181. 
Clethra  alnifolia,  230. 
Clintonia  borealis,  280. 
Clitoria  Mariana,  26. 
Collinsia  verna,  55. 
Collinsonia  Canadensis,  327. 
Commelina  erecta,  3. 

Virginica,  3. 
Convolvulus  arvensis,  140. 


Convolvulus  major,  246. 

sepium,  139. 
Coptis  trifolia,  177. 
Corallorhiza  Corallorhiza,  372. 

innata,  372. 

multiflora,  371. 
Coreopsis  lanceolata,  359. 

tinctoria,  360. 
Cornus  Amonum,  228. 

Canadensis,  227. 

candissima,  229. 

circinata,  228. 

florida,  226. 

paniculata,  229. 

sericea,  228. 

stolonifera,  228. 
Corydalis  aurea,  300. 

glauca,  95. 

Cracca  Virginiana,  103. 
Crataegus  Crus-Galli,  208. 

Oxyacantha,  208. 
Crotalaria  sagittalis,  310. 
Cunila  Mariana,  50. 

origanoides,  50. 
Cuphea  viscosissima,  117. 
Cuscuta  Gronovii,  246. 
Cynoglossum  Morisoni,  385. 

officinale,  384. 

Virginicum,  385. 
Cypripedium  acaule,  8l. 

hirsutum,  285. 

parviflorum,  286. 

pubescens,  285. 

reginae,  163. 

spectabile,  163. 

D 

Dalibarda  repens,  202. 
Darlingtonia  Californica,  380. 
Dasystoma  flava,  333. 

pedicularis,  334. 

Virginica,  334. 
Datura  Stramonium,  248. 

Tatula,  249. 
Daucus  Carota,  222. 
Delphinium  Carolinianum,  17. 

Consolida,  15. 

exaltatum,  16. 

tricorne,  16. 

urceolatum,  16. 
Dentaria  diphylla,  190. 

laciniata,  190. 
Desmodium  acuminatum,  24. 

Canadense,  23. 

rotundifolium,  24. 
Dianthus  Armeria,  94. 
Dicentra  cucullaria,  187. 
Diervilla  Diervilla,  339. 

trifida,  339. 
Dipsacus  sylvestris,  63. 


402 


Index  of  Scientific  Names 


Dodecathepn  Meadia,  130. 
Doellingeria  umbella,  264. 
Draba  verna,  192. 
Drosera  filiformis,  194. 

intermedia,  194. 

rotundifolia,  192. 


Echium  vulgare,  39. 
Elodea  Virginica,  115. 
Epifegus  Virginiana,  389. 
Epigaea  repens,  127. 
Epilobium  angustifolium,  118. 

coloratura,  120. 

hirsutum,  119. 

lineare,  1 20. 

strictum,  120. 
Erigeron  annus,  264. 

bellifolium,  75. 

Philadelphicus,  76. 

pulchellus,  75. 

ramosus,  265. 

strigosum,  265. 
Erythronium  albidum,  280. 

Americanum,  279. 
Eschscholtzia  Californica,  300. 
Eupatorium  ageratoides,  262. 

perfoliatum,  261. 

purpureum,  148. 
Euphorbia  corollata,  210. 

Ipecacuanhae,  211. 


Falcata  comosa,  27. 
Fragaria  Canadensis,  203. 
Virginiana,  202. 


Galactia  glabella,  103. 

regularis,  103. 
Galium  Aparine,  254. 
Gaultheria  procumbens,  237. 
Gaylussacia  frondosa,  240. 

resinosa,  239. 

Gemmingia  Chinensis,  284. 
Gentiana  Andrewsii,  34« 

crinita,  32. 

quinqueflora,  33. 

quinquefolia,  33. 
Geranium  Carolinianum,  106. 

maculatum,  105. 

Robertianum,  107. 

sylvaticum,  105. 
Gerardia  flava,  333. 

maritima,  147. 

paupercula,  147. 

pedicularia,  334. 


Gerardia  purpurea,  146. 

quercifolia,  334. 

tennifolia,  147. 
Geum  album,  204. 

Canadense,  204. 

rivale,  20. 

strictum,  305. 
Gillensia  trifoliata,  198. 
Glecoma  hederacea,  44. 
Gnaphalium  decurrens,  266. 
Goodyera  repens,  168. 
Gyrostachys  cernua,  166. 

gracilis,  167. 

H 

Habenaria  blephariglottis,  165. 

ciliaris,  287. 

fimbriata,  12. 

flava,  287. 

grandiflora,  12. 

lacera,  289. 

orbiculata,  164. 

peramoena,  13. 

psycodes,  13. 

Hamamelis  Virginiana,  302. 
Hedeoma  pulegioides,  47. 
Helenium  autumnale,  361. 

nudiflorum,  362. 
Helianthemum  Canadense,  317. 

majus,  317. 
Helianthus  annus,  356. 

decapetalus,  358. 

divaricatus,  358. 

giganteus,  356. 

grosse-serratus,  357. 

strumosus,  358. 

tuberosus,  358. 
Heliopsis  helianthoides,  3-54. 

laevis,  354. 

Hemerocallis  fulva,  279. 
Hepatica  acuta,  18. 

Hepatica,  17. 

triloba,  17. 

Heracleum  lanatum,  225. 
Heuchera  Americana,  329. 
Hibiscus  Moscheutos,  112. 

Rosa-Sinensis,  113. 

Syriacus,  113. 
Hieracium  auranticum,  347. 

Canadense,  347. 

Gronovii,  348. 

scabrum,  348. 

venosum,  347. 
Houstonia  coerulea,  62. 
Hudsonia  tomentosa,  318. 
Hydrangea,  256. 
Hydrophyllum  Virginicum,  247. 
Hypericum  Ascyron,  316. 

perforatum,  315. 

prolificum,  316. 


Index  of  Scientific  Names 


Hypopitis  Hypopitis,  382. 
Hypoxis  erecta,  283. 
hirsuta,  283. 


Ilex  Aquifolium,  213. 

Jaevigata,  214. 

opaca,  213. 

verticillata,  214. 
Ilicioides  mucronata,  213. 
Impatiens  aurea,  314. 

biflora,  312. 

fulva,  312. 

pallida,  314. 
Inula  Helenium,  352. 
lonactis  linariifolius,  75. 
Ipomoea  grandiflora,  246. 

pandurata,  245. 

purpurea,  246. 
Iris  hexagona,  10. 

prismatica,  II. 

versicolor,  9. 

Virginica,  n. 
Isantbus  branchiatus,  48. 


Jeffersonia  diphylla,  184. 


Kalmia  angustifolia,  127. 

glauca,  127. 

latifolia,  125. 
Kneiffia  fructicosa,  322. 

pumilla,  322. 
Krigia  Virginica,  343. 


Lacinaria  scariosa,  72. 

spicata,  72. 

squarrosa,  71. 
Lactuca  Canadensis,  345. 

hirsuta,  345. 

Scariola,  346. 
Lappa  officinalis,  149. 
Lappula  Virginiana,  385. 
Lathyrus  maritimus,  25. 

palustris,  26. 
Ledum  Groenlandicum,  234, 

latifolium,  234. 

palustre,  234. 
Legouzia  biflora,  67. 

perfoliata,  66. 
Leonurus  Cardiaca,  143. 
Leotodon  autumnale,  343. 
Leptandra  Virginica,  250. 
Lespedeza  capitata,  105. 

frutescens,  104. 


Lespedeza  hirta,  105. 

procumbens,  103. 

violacea,  104. 

Virginica,  104. 
Liatris  squarrosa,  71. 
Lilium  Canadense,  277. 

chalcedonicum,  277. 

Philadelphicum,  371. 

superbum,  278. 

tigrinum,  279. 

umbellatum,  371. 
Limodorum  tuberosum,  86. 
Limonium  Carolinianum,  33. 
Linaria  Canadensis,  51. 

Linaria,  332. 

vulgaris,  332. 
Lindera  Benzoin,  297. 
Linnaea  borealis,  147. 
Linum  stria  turn,  312. 

usitatissimum,  312. 

Virginianum,  312. 
Lobelia  cardinalis,  392. 

Dortmanna,  69. 

inflata,  69. 

Kalmii,  68. 

spicata,  68. 

syphilitica,  67. 
Lonicera  Caprifolium,  337. 

ciliata,  340. 

grata,  337. 

hirsuta,  338. 

Japonica,  338. 

oblongifolia,  340. 

sempervirens,  391. 

Tartarica,  340. 
Lupinus  perennis,  21. 
Lychnis  Githago,  90. 
Lysimachia  Numularia,  32$. 

quadrifolia,  324. 

stricta,  324. 

terrestris,  324. 

vulgaris,  324. 
Lythrum  Salicaria,  115. 

M 

Magnolia  glauca,  176. 

Virginiana,  176. 
Malva  moschata,  115. 

rotundifolia,  114. 

Sylvestris,  114. 
Manila  Cotula,  269. 
Medeola  Virginiana,  281. 
Meibomia  Canadensis,  22. 

grandiflora,  24. 

Michauxii,  24. 

nudiflora,  23. 
Melilotus  alba,  208. 

officinalis,  310. 
Mertensia  Virginica,  36. 
Mentha  Canadensis,  50. 


404, 


Index  of  Scientific  Names 


Mentha  piperita,  49. 

pulegium,  47,  50. 

spicata,  49. 

viridis,  49. 

Mikania  scandens,  262. 
Mimulus  ringens,  56. 
Mitchella  repens,  252. 
Mittella  diphylla,  195. 
Monarda  didyma,  385. 

fistulosa,  144. 
Moneses  uniflora,  232. 
Monotropa  Hypopitis,  382. 

uniflora,  233. 
Muscari  botryoides,  7. 
Myosotis  arvensis,  38. 

laxa,  38. 

palustris,  37. 

N 

Nabalus  albus,  260. 

altissimus,  261. 
Nelumbium  speciosum,  174. 
Nelumbo  lutea,  290. 

nelumbo,  174. 

Nemopanthes  Canadensis,  213. 
Nepeta  Cataria,  45. 

Glechoma,  44. 
Nuphar  ad  vena,  289. 
Nymphaea  advena,  289. 

odorata,  173. 


OEnothera  biennis,  321. 

fructicosa,  322. 
Onagra  biennis,  321. 
Opulaster  opulifolius,  197. 
Opuntia  humifusa,  321. 

Opuntia,  319. 

Rafinesquii,  321. 

vulgaris,  319. 
Orchis  spectabilis,  83. 
Ornithogalum  umbellatum,  158. 
Orontium  aquaticum,  275. 
Osmorrhiza  longistylis,  223. 
Oxalis  stricta,  311. 

violacea,  109. 
Oxy coccus  macrocarpus,  129. 


Panax  quinquefolia,  221. 
Pardanthus  Chinensis,  284. 
Parnassia  Caroliniana,  196. 

pulustris,  196. 
Parsonia  petiolata,  117. 
Parthenocissus  quinquefolia,  218. 
Pastinaca  sativa,  323. 
Pedicularis  Canadensis,  388. 
Peltandra  Virginica,  156. 


Pentstemon  digitalis,  55. 

glaber,  55. 

grandiflorus,  54. 

hirsutus,  54. 

pubescens,  54. 
Peramium  pubescens,  169. 

repens,  168. 
Phaseolus  perennis,  382. 

polystachyus,  382. 
Phlox  divaricata,  35. 

maculata,  35. 

paniculata,  35. 

pilosa,  142. 

reptans,  141. 

subulata,  141. 
Physalis  Pennsylvania,  328. 

Virginiana,  328. 
Physostegia  Virginiana,  142. 
Phytolacca  decandra,  229. 
Pieris  floribunda,  236. 

Mariana,  236. 
Pluchea  camphorata,  265. 
Podophyllum  peltatum,  184* 
Pogonia  ophioglossoides,  84. 
Polygala  cruciata,  ill. 

paucifolia,  ill. 

polygama,  112. 

sanguinea,  no. 

viridescens,  no. 
Polygonatum  biflorium,  161. 

commutatum,  161. 

giganteum,  161. 
Polygonella  articulata,  90. 
Polygonum  amphibium,  89. 

articulatum,  190. 

aviculare,  89. 

hydropiper,  89. 

hydropiperoides,  89. 

Pennsylvanicum,  88. 

Persicaria,  88. 

sagittatum,  90. 

scandens,  89. 
Pontederia  cordata,  5. 
Porteranthus  trifoliatus,  198. 
Potentilla  argentea,  305. 

Canadensis,  304. 

fructicosa,  305. 
Prunella  vulgaris,  45. 
Ptilimnium  capillaceum,  226. 
Pyrola  asarifolia,  I2O. 

elliptica,  232. 

rotundifolia,  120,  231. 

secunda,  232. 

uliginosa,  120. 
Pyrus  arbutifolia,  205. 
Pyxidanthera  barbulata,  241. 


Quamasia  hyacinthina,  6. 
405 


Index  of  Scientific  Names 


R 

Saponaria  officinalis,  93. 

Sarracenea  purpurea,  379. 

Ranunculus  acris,  292. 

Saururus  cernuus,  169. 

alismaefolius,  295. 

Saxifraga  Virginiensis,  194. 

aquatilis,  295. 

Scilla  Fraseri,  6. 

bulbosus,  293. 

maritima,  7. 

delphinifolius,  294. 

Scrophularia  Marylandica,  52. 

fascicularis,  294. 

nodosa,  52. 

hispidus,  294. 

Scutellaria  galericulata,  43. 

multifidus,  294. 

integrifolia,  43. 

obtusiusculus,  295. 

later!  flora,  42. 

Pennsylvania^,  294. 

pilosa,  43. 

repens,  294. 

serrata,  43. 

septentrionalis,  294. 

Sedum  Telephium,  19. 

Raphanus  Raphanistrum,  304. 

Senecio  aureus,  363. 

sativus,  302. 

Septamnium  Virginianum,  389. 

Rhexia  Mariana,  118. 

Sicyos  angulatus,  260. 

Virginica.  118. 

Silene  antirrhina,  93. 

Rhododendron  Catawbiense,  124. 

Caroliniana,  92, 

maximum,  123. 

inflata,  171. 

Rhodora,  123. 

noctiflora,  93. 

Rhodora  Canadertsis,  123. 

Pennsylvanica,  92. 

RhusCotinus,  211. 

stellata,  171. 

glabra,  212. 

Virginica,  376. 

hirta,  21  1. 

vulgaris,  171. 

typhina,  211. 

Silphium  laciniatum,  346. 

Rhux  venenata,  212. 

perfoliatum,  353. 

vernix,  212. 

Sinapis  alba,  301. 

Roripa  Nasturtium,  302. 

arvensis,  301. 

Rosa  blanda,  99. 

Sisymbrium  officinale,  301. 

canina,  100. 

Sisyrinchium  angustifolium,  II. 

Carolina,  100. 

Bermudiana,  n. 

humilis,  icx). 

Sium  cicutaefolium,  226. 

lucida,  100. 

Smilacina  racemosa,  159. 

setigera,  99. 

Smilax  herbacea,  282. 

Rubus  Canadensis,  201. 

rotundifolia,  283. 

hispidus,  201. 

Solanum  Dulcamara,  50. 

occidentalis,  200. 

nigrum,  51. 

odoratus,  96. 

Solidago  bicolor,  349. 

strigosus,  199. 

caesia,  349. 

villosus,  200. 

Canadensis,  351. 

Rudbeckia  hirta,  354. 

flexicaulis,  349. 

laciniata,  355. 

juncea,  350. 

Ruellia  ciliosa,  61. 

lanceolata,  351. 

strepens,  62. 

latifolia,  349. 

Missouriehsis,  351. 

S 

nemoralis,  351. 

rugosa,  350. 

Sabbatia  angiilaris,  131. 

speciosa,  350. 

Campanulata,  133. 
chlorides,  133. 

uliginosa,  349. 
ulmifolia,  350. 

dodecandra,  133. 

Sonchus  arvensis,  344, 

gracilis,  133. 

Spathyema  foetida,  369. 

stellaris,  132. 
Sagittaria  latifolia,  154. 

Specularia  perfoliata,  66. 
Spiraea  aruncus,  198. 

variabilis,  154. 

lobata,  97. 

Salvia  splendens,  386. 
Sambucus  Canadensis,  254. 

opulifolia,  197. 
salicifolia,  197. 

pubens,  256. 

tomentosa,  95. 

Sanguinaria  Canadensis,  185. 
Sanicula  Marylandica,  224. 

Spiranthes  cernua,  166. 
Statice  Liraoniura,  32. 

406 


Index  of  Scientific  Names 


Steironema  lanceolatum,  325. 
Stellaria  media,  172. 
Streptopus  roseus,  81. 
amplexifolius,  81. 
Symplocarpus  foetidus,  369. 
Syndesmon  thalictroides,  181. 
Stylophorura  diphyllum,  299. 


Tanacetum  vulgare,  362. 
Taraxacum  Dens-leonis,  340. 

officinale,  340. 

Taraxacum,  340. 
Tecoma  radicans,  390. 
Tephrosia  Virginiana,  103. 
Thalesia  uniflora,  60. 
Thalictrum  anemonoides,  181. 

Cornuti,  183. 

dioicum,  183. 

polyganum,  183. 

purpurascens,  184. 
Thaspium  barbinode,  323. 

trifoliatum,  var.  aureum,  324. 
Thymus  Serphyllum,  48. 

vulgaris,  48. 
Tiarella  cordifolia,  195. 
Tradescantia  repens,  4. 

Virginiana,  4. 

Triadenum  Virginicum,  115. 
Trichostema  dichotomum,  47. 
Trientalis  Americana,  242. 
Trifolium  agrarium,  311. 

arvense,  210. 

incarnatum,  1 02. 

medium,  102. 

pratense,  101. 

repens,  209. 
Trillium  cernuum,  163. 

erectum,  7. 

erythrocarpum,  163. 

grandiflora,  162. 

nivale,  162. 

sessile,  8. 

undulatutn,  163. 

U 

Ulmaria  rubra,  97. 
Unifolium  Canadense,  160. 
Utricularia  cornuta,  336. 

vulgaris,  335. 
Uvularia  grandiflora,  276. 

perfoliata,  275. 

sessifolia,  276. 


Vaccinium  corymbosum,  240. 
macrocarpon,  129. 
Pennsylvanicum,  240. 
stamineum,  241. 


Vagnera  racemosa,  159. 

stellata,  160. 
Veratrum  viride,  157. 
Verbascum  Blattaria,  331. 

Thapsus,  329. 
Verbena  angustifolia,  41. 

Canadensis,  42. 

hastata,  40. 

officinalis,  40. 
Vernonia  Noveboracensis,  71. 
Veronica  Americana,  57. 

Anagallis-aquatica,  58. 

officinalis,  58. 

scutellata,  58. 

serpyllifolia,  60. 

Virginica,  250. 
Viburnum  acerifolium,  258. 

alnifolium,  256. 

cassinoides,  259. 

dentatum,  258. 

lantanoides,  256. 

Lentago,  259. 

nudum,  259. 

Opiilus,  257. 

prunifolium,  259. 

pubescens,  258. 
Vicia  Americana,  25. 

Cracca,  24. 

saliva,  25. 
Viola  blanda,  218. 

Canadensis,  218. 

cucullata,  28. 

Labradorica,  31. 

lanceolata,  218. 

obliqua,  28. 

odorata,  30. 

ovata,  30. 

palmata,  29. 

palustris,  31. 

pedata,  29. 

primulaefolia,  218. 

pubescens,  318. 

rotundifolia,  318. 

scabriuscula,  318. 

sororia,  30. 
Vitis  cordifolia,  217. 

Labrusca,  216. 

vulpina,  217. 

W 

Waldsteinia  fragarioides,  203. 
Washingtonia  longistylis,  223. 
Willughbaea  scandens,  262. 


Xolisma  ligustrina,  236. 

Z 

Zizia  aurea,  323. 
407 


INDEX   OF   ENGLISH   NAMES 


Adam  and  Eve,  373. 
Adder's  Tongue,  White,  280. 

Yellow,  279. 

Agrimony,  Tall,  Hairy,  306. 
Ague-weed,  261. 
Alder,  Black,  214. 

White,  230. 
Alleluia,  107. 
Allspice,  Wild,  297. 
Alum-root,  329. 
Amy-root,  243. 
Andromeda,  Privet,  236. 

Water,  235. 
Anemone,  Rue,  181. 

Star,  242. 

Tall  or  Summer,  181. 

Wood,  179. 
Angel's  Hair,  246. 
Appalachian  Tea,  259. 
Arbutus,  European,  129. 

Trailing,  127. 
Arethusa,  85. 

Arrow-head,  Broad-leaved,  154. 
Arrow-wood,  258. 

Downy-leaved,  258. 

Maple -leaved,  258. 
Artichoke,  Jerusalem,  358. 
Arum,  Green  Arrow,  156. 

Water,  166. 
Asarabacca,  373. 
Asters,  Blue  and  Purple,  72-75. 

Golden,  348. 

White,  263,  264. 
Asthma-weed,  69. 
Avens,  Field,  305. 

Purple,  20. 

Water,  20. 

White,  204. 

Yellow,  305. 
Azalea,  Clammy,  122. 

Flame,  122. 

Ghent,  122. 

Pink,  121. 

White,  122. 

Wild,  121. 


B 


Baby's  Breath,  7. 
Backache-root,  72. 
Balm,  Bee,  385. 

Field,  44. 
Balmony,  145. 
Balsam,  Sweet,  266. 

Wild,  312. 
Baneberries,  178. 
Barberry,  American,  297. 

Common,  295. 
Bay,  White,  176. 
Bean,  Wild  Kidney,  381. 
Bearberry,  238. 
Beard-tongues,  54,  55. 
Beaver-poison,  225. 
Bedstraw,  254. 
Beech-drops,  389. 

False,  382. 
Beefsteak  Plant,  388. 
Bee  Plant,  52. 
Beggar-ticks,  361. 
Bellflowers,  65,  66. 
Bellworts,  275,  276. 
Benjamin-bush,  297. 
Bergamot,  Wild,  144. 
Betony,  Paul's,  58. 

Wood,  388. 
Bindweed,  Blue,  50. 

Great,  139. 

Hedge,  139. 
Bird's-nest,  222. 

Yellow,  382. 
Birth-root,  7. 
Bishop's  Cap,  195. 
Bishop-weed,  Mock,  226. 
Bitter-bloom,  131. 
Bitter-buttons,  362. 
Bitter-cress,  302. 

Meadow,  189. 
Bitter-root,  133. 
Bittersweet,  214. 
Bittersweet  (Nightshade),  5<X 
Blackberries,  200,  201. 
Black-eyed  Susan,  354. 
Bladderworts,  335,  336. 

408 


Index  of  English  Names 


Blaring  Stars,  71,  72. 
Bleeding-heart,  95,  188. 
Bloodroot,  185. 
Blueberries,  240. 
Blue-bells,  36. 
Blue  Bells  of  Scotland,  64. 
Blue  Curls,  45,  47. 
Blue-eyed  Mary,  55. 
Blue  Sailors,  69. 
Bluets,  62. 
Blue-weed,  39. 
Boneset,  Purple,  148. 
Bonesets,  261,  262. 
Bouncing  Bet,  93. 
Bowman's-root,  198. 
Bramble,  200. 
Broom,  Indigo,  309, 

Yellow,  309. 

Brooklime,  American,  57. 
Broom-rape,  60. 
Brunella,  45. 

Buckwheat,  Climbing  False,  89. 
Bugbane,  Tall,  179. 
Bugloss,  Viper's,  39. 
Bunchberry,  227. 
Bunk,  69. 

Burdock,  Common,  149. 
Bur-marigold,  Larger,  360. 
Bush-clovers,  104,  105. 
Bush-honeysuckle,  339. 
Butter-and-eggs,  332. 
Buttercups,  292-294. 
Butterfly-weed,  325. 
Button-bush,  251. 


Cactus,  Prickly  Pear,  319. 
Calf-kill,  127. 
Calico  Bush,  125. 
Calla,  Marsh,  155. 
Calliopsis,  360. 
Calmoun,  125. 
Calopogon,  86. 
Camomile,  269. 
Campion,  Bladder,  171. 

Corn,  90. 

Starry,  171. 
Canker-root,  32. 
Canker-root  (Gold-thread),  177. 
Canker- weed,  260. 
Cardinal-flower,  392. 

Blue,  67. 

Carrion-flower,  282. 
Carrot,  Wild,  222. 
Cassandra,  Dwarf,  237. 
Catbrier,  283. 
Catchflies,  92,  93. 
Catchfly,  Virginia,  376. 
Cat-gut,  103. 
Catnip,  45. 


Celandine,  Greater,  298. 
Centaury,  Rosy,  131. 
Charlocks,  301,  302. 
Checkerberry,  237. 
Cheese  Flower,  114. 
Chickweed,  Common,  172. 

Red,  383. 

Chickweed-Wintergreen,  242. 
Chicory,  69. 
Chinkapin,  Water,  290. 
Chokeberries,  205. 
Cicely,  Fool's,  225. 
Cigar-plant,  117. 
Cinquefoils,  304,  305. 
Citronella,  327. 
Cleavers,  254. 
Clematis,  Marsh,  19. 

Virginia,  181. 
Clethra,  Alder- leaved,  230. 
Clintonia,  Yellow,  280. 
Clovers,  101,  209,  311. 
Clover,  White  Sweet,  208. 

Yellow  Sweet,  310. 
Cocash,    74. 
Cockle-bur,  149. 
Cockle,  Corn,  90. 
Cohosh,  Black,  179. 
Colic-root,  71. 
Colic-root  (Star-grass),  159. 
Collinsia,  Broad-leaved,  55. 
Columbine,  Common  Garden,  15. 

Wild,  377. 

Cone-flowers,  354,  355. 
Comfrey,  Wild,  385. 
Compass-plant,  346. 
Coolwort,  195. 
Coral-roots,  371,  372. 
Cornels,  227,  228. 
Corn-flower,  268. 
Corpse-plant,  233. 
Corydalis,  Golden,  300. 

Pale,  95. 

Cowbane,  Spotted,  225. 
Cowslip,  American,  130. 
Cowslip  (Marsh  Marigold),  291. 

Virginia,  36. 
Cranberry,  American,  129. 

High  Bush,  257. 
Crane's-bills,  105,  106. 
Creeping  Charlie,  44. 
Cresses,  188,  189,  302. 
Crinkle-root,  190. 
Crosswort,  324. 
Crowfoots,  292-295. 
Crown-of-the-field,  90. 
Cuckoo  Flower,  292. 
Cuckoo-flower  (Ladies'  Smock),  1 89. 
Cuckoo-pint,  156. 
Cucumber-root,  Indian,  281. 
Cucumber,  Star,  260. 
Cudweed,  Winged,  266. 


409 


Index  of  English  Names 


Culver's-root,  250. 
Cuphea,  Clammy,  117. 
Cup-plant,  353. 
Cynthia,  343. 


Daisy,  Blue  Spring,  75. 

Common  White,  270. 

English,  270. 

Michaelmas,  263. 

Pig-sty,  269. 

Purple,  74. 

Yellow  Ox-eye,  354. 
Dalibarda,  Creeping,  202. 
Dandelions,  340-343. 
Dayflowers,  3. 
Deerberry,  237. 

Deerberry  (Squaw  huckleberry),  241. 
Deer-grass,  118. 
Devil's  Paintbrush,  347. 
Dewberry,  201. 
Dew-plant,  192. 
Dittany,  American,  50. 
Dock,  Round,  114. 
Dockmackie,  258. 
Dodder,  Gronovius',  246. 
Dogbanes,  133. 
Dogberry-tree,  205. 
Dog-poison,  225. 
Dogwoods,  226-229. 
Doorweed,  89. 
Dragon,  Green,  369. 
Dragonhead,  False,  142. 
Dragon-root,  369. 
Dragon's  Blood,  107. 
Dutchman's  Breeches,  187. 
Dutchman's  Pipe,  375. 
Dyer's-weed,  351. 


Ear  Drops,  187. 
Eglantine,  101. 
Elders,  254-256. 
Elecampane,  352. 
Evening  Primrose,  321. 
Everlastings,  266,  267. 
Eye-bright,  n. 


Fellonwort,  50. 
Fetter-bush,  236. 
Fever-bush,  214. 
Fever-bush  (Spice-bush),  297. 
Figworts,  52. 
Fire-weed,  118. 
Five-finger   304. 
Flags,  Blue,  9-11. 
Flat-top,  71. 


Flax,  312. 

Fleabane,  Daisy,  264. 
Salt  Marsh,  265. 
Fleabanes,  74-76. 
Fleur-de-lis,  9. 
Fluellin,  58. 
Fly-honeysuckles,  340. 
Foam-flower,  195. 
Forget-me-nots,  37,  38. 
Foxgloves,  False,  333,  334. 
Fringe,  Mountain,  188. 
Frost-flowers,  317. 
Frostweed  (Heath  Aster),  263. 
Fuller's  Herb,  93. 
Fumitory,  Climbing,  95. 


Gag-root,  69. 
Garget,  229. 
Gay  Wings,  in. 
Gentians,  32-34. 
Geraniums,  Wild,  105. 
Gerardias,  146,  147. 
Ghost-flower,  233. 
Gill-over-the-ground,  44. 
Ginger,  Wild,  373. 
Ginsengs,  221. 
Gipsy  Combs,  63. 
Gipsy-flower,  384. 
Girasole,  358. 
Gladiole,  Water,  69. 
Globe-flower,  251. 
Goat's-beard,  198. 

Virginia,  343. 
Goat's  Rue,  103. 
Golden  Club,  275. 
Golden-rods,  349—351. 
Gold-thread,  177. 
Goose-grass,  254. 
Grapes,  Wild,  216,  217. 
Grass,  of  Parnassus,  196. 

Pointed  Blue-eyed,  II. 
Gravel-root,  148. 
Gravel-weed,  339. 
Greenbrier,  283. 
Ground  Cherry,  Virginia,  328. 
Ground-hele,  58. 
Ground-nut,  381. 
Ground-nut  (Dwarf  Ginseng),  221. 

Vine,  147. 
Groundsel,  363. 
Groundsel-bush,  265. 
Guelder-rose,  Wild,  257. 


Hardhack,  95. 
Harebell,  64. 
Haw,  Black,  259. 
Hawkbit,  Autumnal,  343. 


410 


Index  of  English  Names 


Hawkweeds,  347,  348. 
Hawthorn,  Common,  207. 
Heal-all,  45. 
Heal-all  (Figwort),  52. 

High,  388. 

Heart-of-the-earth,  45. 
Heather,  Beach,  318. 
Hellebore,  White,  157. 
Helmet-flower,  42. 
Hemlock,  Water,  225. 
Hempweeds,  262. 
Hepatica,  17. 
Herb  Christopher,  178. 
Herb-of-St.  Barbara,  302. 
Herb  Robert,  107. 
Hobble-bush,  256. 
Hog  Apple,  184. 
Hollies,  213. 
Honey-balls,  251. 
Honey-bloom,  133. 
Honeysuckle,  Coral,  391. 
Honeysuckle,  Swamp,  122. 

Wild,  121. 
Honeysuckles,  Bush,  339. 

Twin,  340. 

Twining,  337,  338. 
Hoodwort,  42. 
Horse-balm,  327. 
Horse-brier,  283. 
Horse-heal,  352, 
Horsefly-weed,  309. 
Horse-mint,  Sweet,  50. 
Hound's  Tongue,  384. 
Houstonia,  62. 
Huckleberry,  High-bush,  239. 

Squaw,  241. 
Huntsman's  Cup,  379. 
Hyacinth,  Grape,  7. 

Wild,  6. 
Hyssop,  Wild,  40. 


Ice-plant,  233. 
Immortelle,  266. 
Indian-cup,  353. 
Indian  Dipper,  379. 

Hemp,  243. 

Paint,  185. 

Paint-brush,  387. 

Physic,  198. 

Pipe,  233. 

Plume,  385. 

Poke,  157. 
Indian-root,  220. 
Indian  Sage,  261. 

Turnip,  367. 
Indigo,  Wild,  309. 
Innocence,  55. 
Innocence  (Bluets),  62. 
Ink-berry,  229. 


Ink-root,  32. 
Iris,  Blue,  9. 
Iron-weed,  71. 
Itch-weed,  157. 
Ivy,  Five-leaved,  217. 

Ground,  44. 

Poison,  212. 

J 

ack-in-the-Pulpit,  367. 

amestown  Weed,  248. 

ewel-weed,  312. 

imson  Weed,  248. 

ob's  Tears,  4. 

oe-Pye  Weed,  148. 
Jointweed,  Pink,  88. 

Seaside,  90. 
June-berry,  205. 
Jute,  American,  314. 

K 

Kalmia,  Broad-leaved,  125. 
Kale,  Field,  301. 
Kidney-root,  148. 
Kinnikinnic,  228. 
Kinnikinic  (Bearberry),  238. 
Knight's-spur,  15. 
Knot-grass,  89. 
Coast,  90. 
Knotweed,  Pink,  88. 


Labrador  Tea,  234. 
Ladies'  Smock,  189. 
Ladies'  Tresses,  166,  167. 
Lady's  Slipper,  Pink,  81. 

Showy,  163. 

Wild  (Jewel-weed),  312. 
Lady's  Slippers,  Yellow,  285,  286. 
Lady's  Thimble,  64. 
Lady's  Thumb,  88. 
Lamb-kill,  127. 
Larkspurs,  15-17. 
Laurel,  Great,  123. 
Laurels,  125-127. 
Laurel,  Swamp,  176. 
Lavender,  Sea,  32. 
Leather-flower,  19. 
Leather-leaf,  237. 
Lemon,  Wild,  184. 
Lettuces,  White,  260,  261. 

Wild,  344-346. 
Leucothoe,  237. 

Lilies,  Yellow  and  Orange,  277-279. 
Lily,  Blackberry,  284. 

Red  Wood,  371. 

Trout,  279. 

White  Pond,  173. 


411 


Index  of  English  Names 


Lily,  White  Wood,  162. 

Yellow  Pond,  289. 
Lily-of-the-valley,  False,  160. 
Linaria,  Blue,  51. 
Lion's-foot,  260. 
Lion's-heart,  142. 
Lion's-tooth,  340. 
Liverworts,  17,  18. 
Live-forever,  19. 
Lotus,  American,  290. 
Lobelia,  Red,  392. 
Lobelias,  Blue,  67-69. 
Loosestrife,  Purple,  115. 
Loosestrifes,  Yellow,  324,  325. 
Lousewort,  388. 
Lungworts,  36. 
Lupine,  Wild,  21. 

M 

Mad-weed,  42. 
Madnep,  323. 
Magnolia,  Laurel,  176. 
Mallow,  Indian,  314, 
Mallows,  113,  114. 
Mandrake,  184. 
Man-of-the-earth,  245. 
Marigold,  Marsh,  291. 

Rayless,  361. 
Marl-grass,  IO2. 
Marsh-pinks,  132,  133. 
May  Apple,  184. 

Cherry,  205. 
Mayflower,  127. 
Mayflowers  (Hawthorn),  207. 
Meadow-beauty,  118. 
Meadow-gowan,  291. 
Meadow-rues,  183,  184. 
Meadow-sweets,  197,  198. 
Mealy-tree,  258. 
Medic,  Black,  311. 
Mecha-meck,  245. 
Melilot,  White,  208. 

Yellow,  310. 
Midsummer-men,  19. 
Milfoil,  268. 

Milkweeds,  Pink  and  Magenta,  135-139. 
Milkweed,  Orange,  325. 

Whorled,  244. 
Milkworts,  110-112. 
Mint,  Mountain,  385. 
Mints,  47-50. 
Mitchella-vine,  252. 
Mitrewort,  False,  195. 
Mitreworts,  195. 
Moccasin  Flower,  Pink,  8l. 

Yellow,  285. 
Moneywort,  324. 
Monkey-flower,  56. 
Moonflower,  246. 
Morel,  51. 


Morning-glory,  246. 

Wild,  139. 
Moss,  Flowering,  241. 
Mother's  Heart,  191. 
Motherwort,  143. 
Mullein,  Great,  329. 

Moth,  331. 
Musquash  Root,  225. 
Mustards,  300,  301. 

N 

Nancy-over-the-ground,  195. 
Nanny-berry,  259. 
Napoleons,  102. 
New  Jersey  Tea,  215. 
Nightshades,  50,  51. 

Enchanter's,  219. 
Nimble  Kate,  260. 
Ninebark,  197. 

O 

Oat,  Wild.  276. 

Obedient  Plant,  142. 

Old  Maid's  Bonnets,  21. 

Opium,  Wild,  345. 

Orchis,  Early  Purple-fringed,  12. 

Fringed  Green,  289. 

Fringeless  Purple,  13. 

Greater  Green,  164. 

Purple-fringed,  12. 

Ragged  Green,  287,  289. 

Round-leaved,  164. 

Showy,  83. 

Tubercled,  287. 

White-fringed,  165. 

Yellow-fringed,  287. 
Orpine,  19. 
Oswego  Tea,  385. 
Ox-eye,  354. 


Painted  Cup,  Scarlet,  387. 
Parsley,  Fool's,  225. 
Parsnip,  Cow,  226. 

Hemlock  Water-,  226. 
Parsnips,  Wild,  323,  324. 
Partridge- berry  (Wintergreen),  237. 
Partridge  Vine,  252. 
Pea,  Hoary,  103. 

Milk,  103. 

Partridge,  307. 

Sensitive,  307. 

Wild  Sweet,  103. 
Peanut,  Hog,  27. 

Wild,  27. 

Peas,  Blue  to  Purple,  21-26. 
Pelargoniums,  106. 
Pennyroyal,  American,  47. 


412 


Index  of  English  Names 


Pennyroyal,  True,  50. 

Quamash,  6. 

Pepper,  Old  Man's,  268. 

Queen  Anne's  Lace,  222. 

Pepperbush,  Sweet,  230. 

Queen-of-the-meadow,  197. 

Pepperidge-bush,  295. 

Queen-of-the-prairie,  97. 

Pepper-root,  Cut-leaved,  190. 

Peppers,  Water,  89. 

R 

Persicaria,  Common,  88. 

Water,  89. 

Radish,  Wild,  302. 

Phloxes,  35,  141,  142. 

Ragwort,  Golden,  363. 

Pickerel-weed,  5. 

Raspberry,  Purple-flowering,  96. 

Pigeon-berry,  229. 

Wild',  199,  200. 

Pimpernel,  Scarlet,  383. 

Rattle-box,  310. 

Water,  58. 

Rattlesnake  Master,  71. 

Pine-barren  Beauty,  241. 

Rattlesnake  Plantain,  Downy,  169. 

Pine  Sap,  382. 

Lesser,  168. 

Pink,  Fire,  376. 

Rattlesnake-root,  260. 

Grass,  86. 

Rattlesnake-weed,  347. 

Ground,  141. 

Red-root,  215. 

Indian,  85. 

Red  Robin,  107. 

Moss,  141. 

Red  Shanks,  107. 

Old  Maid's,  93. 

Rheumatism-root,  184. 

Sea,  132. 

Rhodora,  123. 

Swamp,  122. 

Rhododendron,  American,  123. 

Pinks,  92-94. 

Carolina,  124. 

Pinxter-flower,  121. 

Rich-weed,  327. 

Pipe-vine,  375. 

River-bush,  251. 

Pipsissewas,  120,  1  2  1. 

Rock-cress,  192. 

Pitcher-plant,  379. 

Rocket,  Yellow,  302. 

Pitchforks,  361. 

Rock-rose,  Canadian,  317. 

Plantain,  Robin's,  75. 

Rose  Bay,  123. 

Snake,  347- 

Rose,  Corn,  90. 

Plantains,  Rattlesnake,  168,  169. 

Mallow,  112. 

Pleurisy-root,  325. 

of  China,  113. 

Pogonia,  Rose,  84. 

of  Plymouth,  132. 

Poison-flower,  50. 

Rose-pink,  131. 

Pokeweed,  2-29. 

Rose  Tree,  123. 

Polygala,  Fringed,  III. 

Roses,  Wild,  99-101. 

Purple,  no. 

Rosemary,  Marsh,  32. 

Poor  Man's  Weather-glass,  383. 

White,  263. 

Poppy,  California,  299. 
Celandine,  299. 
Pop-weed,  335. 

Wild,  235. 
Rosin-plant,  353. 
Rosin-weed,  Prairie,  346. 

Potato  Vine,  Wild,  245. 

Rue-anemone,  181. 

Poverty  Grass,  318. 

Ruellias,  61,  62. 

Prairie  Pine,  72. 

Prickly  Pear,  Eastern,  319. 

s 

Western,  321. 

Pride  of  Ohio,  130. 

Sabbatia,  Square-stemmed,  131. 

Prince's  Pine,  120. 

Saint  Andrew's  Cross,  315. 

Puccoon,  Red,  185. 

Saint  John's-wort,  Marsh,  115. 

Pudding-bag  Plant,  19. 

Saint  John's-worts,  315,  316. 

Putty-root,  373. 

Saint  Peter's-wort,  315. 

Pyrola,  One-flowered,  232. 

Sanicle,  224. 

Round-leaved,  231. 

White,  262. 

Pyxie,  241. 

Sarsaparillas,  220. 

Sassafras,  298. 

Q 

Swamp,  176. 
Saxifrage,  Early,  194. 

Quaker  Bonnets,  62. 

Scabious,  Sweet,  264. 

Quaker  Ladies,  62. 

Scabish,  Meadow,  74. 

Quaker  Lady,  197. 

Scillas,  6. 

413 


Index  of  English  Names 


Scoke,  229. 

Star-grass,  159,  283. 

Scorpion-grass,  37. 

Star-of-Bethlehem,  158. 

Sea-pink,  132. 

Starwort,  Yellow,  352. 

Self-heal,  45. 

Starworts,  Purple,  72. 

Senna,  Wild,  308. 

Steeple-bush,  95. 

Sensitive-plants,  307, 

Stickseed,  Virginia,  385. 

Service-berry,  205. 

Stitchwort,  Long-leaved,  173. 

Serpentary,  376. 

Stonecrop,  Garden,  19. 

Shad-bush,  206. 

Stone-root,  327. 

Shepherd's  Purse,  191. 

Stramonium,  248. 

Shepherd's  Weather-glass,  383. 

Purple,  249. 

Sheep-poison,  127. 

Strangleweed,  246. 

Shell-flower,  145. 

Straw-bell,  275. 

Shin-leaf,  232. 

Strawberries,  Wild,  202,  203. 

Shooting  Star,  130. 

Strawberry,  Barren,  203. 

Side-saddle  flower,  379. 

Succory,  69. 

Silkweed,  135. 

Sugar-pear,  Swamp,  206. 

Silver-rod,  349. 

Sumacs,  211,  212. 

Simpler's  Joy,  40. 

Sundew,  Round-leaved,  192. 

Skevish,  76. 

Sundews,  194. 

Skullcaps,  42,  43. 

Sun  Dial,  21. 

Skunk  Cabbage,  369. 

Sundrops,  322. 

Sloe,  259. 

Sunflower,  Brook,  360. 

Smartweed,  88. 

False,  354. 

Srailax,  283. 

Swamp,  361. 

Smoke  Tree,  211. 

Sunflowers,  356-359. 

Snake-berry,  50. 

Swallow-wort,  298. 

Snake-head,  145. 

Swamp  Cabbage,  369. 

Snake-flower,  39. 

Swan  weed,  74. 

Snake-mouth,  84. 

Sweetbrier,  101. 

Snakeroot,  Black,  179,  224. 

Sweet-Cicely,  223. 

Snakeroot,  Button,  71,72. 

Sweet  Clover,  Wrhite,  208. 

Canada,  373. 

Yellow,  310. 

Virginia,  376. 

Sweet  William,  94. 

White,  262. 

Wild,  35- 

Sneezeweed,  361,  362. 

Snowberry,  Creeping,  241. 

T 

Snowball,  Wild,  215. 

Soapwort,  93. 

Tank,  323. 

Solomon's  Seals,  151-161. 

Tansy,  362. 

Sorrel,  Lady's,  311. 

Tare,  Blue,  24. 

Sorrel,  Wood.     See  Wood-sorrel. 

Tar-weed,  117. 

Sow-thistle,  Field,  344. 

Tear-thumb,  Arrow-leaved,  go. 

Spatter-dock,  289. 

Teazel,  Card,  63. 

Spearwort,  Water-plantain,  295. 

Ten  O'clock,  158. 

Speedwells,  58-60. 

Thimble-weed,  181. 

Spice-bush,  297. 

Thimble-weed  (Cone-flower),  35! 

Spiderwort,  4. 

Thistle,  Milk,  344. 

Spikenard,  American,  220. 

Thistles,  77. 

Wild,  159. 

Thorn  Apple,  248. 

Spignet,  220. 

Thorn,  Red-fruited,  208. 

Spring  Beauty,  170. 

White,  208. 

Spurges,  Flowering,  210. 

Thoroughwort,  261. 

Squills,  Wild,  6. 

Purple,  148. 

Squirrel  Corn,  188. 

Throatwort,  72. 

Cup,  17. 

Thymes,  48. 

Stag-bush,  259. 

Tickseed,  Garden,  360. 

Stagger-bush,  236. 

Lance-leaved,  359. 

Stagger-  weed,  1  6. 

Tick-trefoils,  22-24. 

Star,  Blue,  n. 

Tickweed,  47. 

Star-flower,  242. 

Tinegrass,  24. 

4*4 


Index  of  English  Names 


Toad-flax,  Blue,  51. 

Yellow,  332. 
Tobacco,  Indian,  69. 

Ladies',  267. 

Toothwort,  Two-leaved,  190. 
Touch-me-not,  Pale,  314. 

Spotted,  312. 
Traveller's  Joy,  181. 
Trilliums.     See  Wake-robin. 
Trumpet-flower,  390. 
Trumpet-leaf,  381. 
Trumpet-weed,  148. 
Turtle-head,  145. 
Twin-berry,  252. 
Twin-flower,  147. 
Twin-honeysuckle,  340. 
Twin-leaf,  184. 
Twisted-stalks,  81. 


Velvet  Leaf,  314. 
Velvet  Plant,  329- 
Venus'  Cup,  64. 
Venus'  Looking-glass,  66,  07. 
Venus'  Pride,  62. 
Verbena,  Large-flowered,  42. 
Vervain,  Blue,  40. 
,    European,  40. 

Narrow-leaved,  41. 
Vetches,  24-26. 
Viburnum,  Sweet,  259. 
Violet,  Dog-tooth,  279. 
Violets,  Blue  and  Purple,  28-31. 

White,  218. 

Yellow,  318. 
Vinegar  Tree,  211. 
Vipers'  Bugloss,  39. 
Vipers'  Herb,  39. 
Vipers'  Grass,  39. 
Virgin's  Bower,  181. 

Purple,  19. 
Virginia  Creeper,  217. 

W 

Wake-Robin,  Early,  162. 
Dwarf,  162. 


'ake-Robin,  Ill-scented,  7. 
Large-flowered,  162. 
Nodding,  163. 
Painted,  163. 
Sessile- flowered,  8. 
Vandering  Jew,  4. 
Vater-leaf,  Virginia,  147. 
Vater-lily,  Sweet-scented,  White,  173. 

Yellow,  289. 

Abater-parsnip,  Hemlock,  226. 
Vater-plantain,  153. 
Vater-shield,  14. 
Vater-milfoil,  335. 
Wax-weed,  Blue,  117. 
Wax- work,  214. 

Wayfaring-tree,  American,  256. 
Vhippoorwill's  Shoe,  285. 
White  Hearts,  187. 
White- weed,  270. 
SVhitlow-grass,  Vernal,  192. 
Whortleberry,  239. 
Wicky,  127. 

Willow-herb,  Hooded,  43. 
Night,  321. 
Spiked,  115. 
Willow-herbs,  119,  120. 
Wind-flower,  179- 
Winterberries,  214. 
Wintergreen,  Bog,  120. 
Creeping,  237. 
Flowering,  in. 
One-flowered,  232. 
Pear-leaved,  231. 
Spotted,  121. 
Witch-hazel,  302. 
Witches'  Money,  19. 
Withe-rod,  259. 
Wood-sorrel,  True,  107. 
Violet,  109. 
Yellow,  311. 
White,  107. 
Woodbine,  Rough,  338. 

Sweet,  337- 
Woodbine  (Virginia  Creeper),  218. 


Yarrow,  268. 
Yellow-weed,  35L 


4IS 


Personate 
an  of  Spurred 


and 

Term/na/  f/owers 


Sp/Xe 


Cyme 


